Sauceless Garden Lasagna

Sauceless Garden Lasagna (from AllRecipes, Servings: 6, Total Time: approx.. 1 hour)

Ingredients

·         1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced

·         1/3 cup chopped red onion

·         1 cup shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese, divided

·         ½ cup crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese

·         2 Portobello mushrooms, sliced into small pieces

·         4 cups fresh baby spinach

·         ¼ cup chopped fresh basil

·         1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano

·         3 cloves garlic, minced

·         3 Tbsp. olive oil

·         ¼ cup balsamic vinegar

·         1 tsp. sugar

·         ½ tsp. salt

·         ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

·         1 (8 oz.) package no-boil lasagna noodles

·         9 roma (plum) tomatoes, thinly sliced

Directions

1.      Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly coat a 9x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

2.      In a large bowl, toss together the zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, garlic, red onion, ½ cup mozzarella, and feta. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, stir in basil, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

3.      Place a layer of lasagna noodles into the bottom of the prepared pan. Make a layer of tomato slices over the noodles. Spread a generous amount of the spinach mixture over the tomatoes. (NOTE: it shrinks a lot while cooking.) Layer slices of tomatoes over the spinach mixture, then another layer of noodles. Start with another layer of tomatoes on top of the noodles, and repeat layers until ending with the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle remaining cheese on the top.

4.      Bake for 35 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until noodles, and vegetables are tender. Let stand for a few minutes to set, then slice and serve.

First, I’ll say that this dish is not too pretty to look at – the cooked spinach looks a little mushy.  But the taste is there, for the most part.  I think that there is a little too much balsamic vinegar and it slightly overpowers the taste – I recommend either less vinegar, or adding more olive oil.  The dish does become quite large, and I only used 3 cups of spinach and bout 1/3 of the box of lasagna noodles (it would have overflowed the pan with 4 cups of spinach and the whole box of noodles).  One other change I recommend making – remove the skins from the tomatoes, I had some stringy parts in mine.

The zucchini and red onions remain crisp, which adds a nice texture component compared to the softness of the other ingredients.  Surprisingly, the tomatoes were a little crisp too (probably because they were not fully ripe when we bought them).  My husband was OK with the dish, but did not eat any of the leftovers.  The above veggies also remain crisp upon reheating.  Enjoy!