Stewart that is!
I spent last Friday night making the dreaded lasagna.
Although it’s lots of work, it pays off. Steve and I already have grab and go lunches for three days of the week! Jackpot! If our lunches aren’t grab and go leftovers, well then lunches aren’t going to be had. Luckily we always have the old standby: pack of oatmeal, fruit, and yogurt. Sadly, no veggies to be found in that lunch. Hence the reason it’s important to me to not use the standby lunch too often!
Although it’s not glamorous, I donned my apron, plucked some fresh herbs, harvested the first big crop of veggies, and got to work! Actually, that sounds quite glamorous! I guess it’s just a matter of opinion! Drinking wine while I cooked certainly made me feel even more like a movie star. 
The labor of lasagna didn’t turn out to be too bad. My organized little bowls certainly helped. Once everything was chopped, I could toss each veg into the skillet at the right time. It’s great because I could use the veggies I had in the garden or in the fridge. The only one I consider essential is the tomato since there’s no actual sauce. Otherwise anything is fair game!
This way nothing was over or under cooked. By the end I was really questioning if it was all going to fit! Thanks to wilting greens, we didn’t have an overflow. It just took some patience to toss them in the mix.
Herbs, spices, cheese, and eggs got their own bowl. Thank goodness!
After laying down a base of juicy veg, it was time to layer up. Noodles, veg, cheese, repeat. No sauce needed. The juices were flowing from the vegetables and that was enough!
By the time this baby was coming out of the oven I couldn’t be much more ready to dig in! I almost forgot to photograph! In the end it was definitely time well spent on my Friday night. I’m thinking that even more now that it’s Tuesday and I’m still reaping the benefits!
Want to give this veggie lasagna a try? Here ya go…
Cheesy Vegetable Lasagna
Ingredients
- 10 ounces lasagna noodles
- 1 medium onion (any type), chopped
- 2 peppers (any color), chopped
- 1 large (or 4 baby) zucchini, chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- 4 tomatoes, chopped
- 3 cups chard, chopped
- 2 cups spinach, chopped
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup basil chopped
- 1/4 cup oregano, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 24 ounces cottage cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup grated parmesan
- 1/2 pound mozzarella, shredded
- 1/2 container vegetable cream cheese
- freshly ground pepper, to taste
- sea salt, to taste
- olive oil, to sauté
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and lay flat. Set aside.
- Heat olive oil in large skillet. Sauté veggies in order listed above. Cook about one minute each before adding next vegetable. Season with salt and pepper.
- In a separate bowl, mix fresh herbs, seasonings, cottage cheese and eggs. Season with salt and pepper.
- Spread thin coat of vegetables with juice on bottom of 9 x 13” pan. Next layer 3 lasagna noodles, 1/3 cottage cheese mixture, 1/3 mozzarella, 1/3 parmesan, dots of cream cheese evenly spaced, and a little less than 1/3 vegetable mixture. Repeat 2 more times.
- End with vegetables and parmesan cheese for the top layer.
- Cover and bake for 20 minutes.
- Uncover and bake for 5-10 more minutes or until browned.
- Allow to sit for 10 minutes before cutting.
All that’s left to do is enjoy with a big group or for many days to come…
