Hello there!

It’s been quite a holiday-filled weekend for me. The past few days have included seeing The Nutcracker ballet, Christmas shopping (almost done with my gift buying!), multiple holiday parties and listening to a lot of Christmas music. So much fun!

(via)

Unfortunately my weekend also included getting sick. I was feeling a little under the weather last week and had been fighting it. The Friday night party we went to was outside, but it happened to be pouring rain. Huddling under a canopy with rain splashing me in the face and leaving me damp the rest of the night pretty much sealed my fate of catching a cold. The upper respiratory bug is circulating in my household, and even Harley has crusty eyes today (no joke)! I’m doing all I can to let this thing run its course as quickly as possible, since I’m flying to the East coast next weekend for the holidays and do NOT want to be sick for my trip. Plus I have too much to do this week to have a pounding headache!

Moving onto food, today’s recipe is a veggie-filled take on classic lasagna. I love Italian pasta dishes like lasagna, but don’t like the tons of calories and fat that can be involved. This dish includes lasagna noodles, but I reduced the amount used to make it a lighter meal. I also included a bunch of veggies to amp up the dish from a nutritional standpoint.

Just to give you an idea, an order of classic lasagna from chain restaurant Olive Garden contains the following nutrition info: 850 calories, 47 g fat, 25 g saturated fat, 39 g carbs and 68 g protein. A serving of this lasagna contains: 410 calories, 15 g, 8 g saturated fat, 41 g carbs and 24 g protein. The latter option sounds more appealing to me!

With a good amount of ingredients, there was a lot of layering involved with prepping this dish. I was a bit indecisive about what to put where, but I wound up assembling my lasagna layers as follows:

First I spread 5 cooked lasagna noodles on the bottom of my baking dish:

My second layer was 1/2 of a red wine/diced tomato mixture I made:

Next I sprinkled 1/2 of my shredded carrots:

My next layer was 1/2 of a mixture of ricotta and shredded mozzarella and fontina cheese:

I then put 1/2 of my strips of sauteed green and yellow zucchini:

And then evenly spread diced red bell pepper:

Next I put the rest of the ricotta/cheese mixture on top:

I then layered 5 more lasagna noodles into the pan:

And poured the rest of the wine/tomato mixture on top:

The rest of the shredded carrots were spread on top:

Followed by the other 1/2 of the zucchini strips:

Lastly I sprinkled shredded mozzarella over top:

I baked the dish until golden brown:

This veggie lasagna will satisfy your pasta urge without causing you to feel bloated and stuffed afterwards. Here’s the recipe:

Very Veggie Lasagna

Foodie Loves Fitness

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 2

Total Time 2 30

Servings

Calories 410 kcal

Ingredients

1 28- oz can of diced tomatoes
10 lasagna pasta pieces
1 TBSP olive oil
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 red onion minced
1 garlic clove minced
2 large zucchini ends removed and cut lengthwise into thin strips (I used 1 green and 1 yellow)
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
1 cup fontina cheese shredded
1 cup shredded carrots
1 red bell pepper diced
1/2 TSP dried oregano
1/2 TSP dried basil
1/2 TSP salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375.
Boil a large pot of water and cook lasagna noodles until tender. Drain, and lay out on baking sheets coated with cooking spray to cool.
Meanwhile, heat 1/2 TBSP olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add onion and saute until lightly browned.
Add the red wine and bring to a simmer. Cook wine for about 5 minutes, or until mixture is reduced by half.
Add diced tomatoes, oregano, basil and salt. Bring to a simmer again, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes.
In another large saucepan, heat the rest of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the zucchini strips and cook until softened.
In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta with the shredded fontina cheese and 1/2 cup of the shredded mozzarella. Mix together well.
Coat an 8x11 baking pan with cooking spray.
Layer the pan as follows: 5 sheets of lasagna noodles, 1/2 of the tomato/wine mixture, 1/2 of the shredded carrots, 1/2 of the ricotta/cheese mixture, 1/2 of the sauteed zucchini, the diced red bell pepper, the rest of the ricotta mixture, the remaining 5 lasagna noodles, the rest of the tomato mixture, the remaining carrots, the other 1/2 of zucchini slices, and the rest of the mozzarella cheese (1 cup).
Cover the lasagna with tin foil, and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil, and bake again until lightly browned with bubbly cheese, 30-40 more minutes.
Cool for a few minutes, then cut into 6 slices and enjoy.