La La Lasagna!

La La Lasagna! I have been craving lasagna for ages, but I just have a hard time eating it. I feel too guilty. I know that sounds sick, but in reality, it is a very unhealthy dish. What makes me feel so guilty? I work my buns off at the gym (actually, no I work those even bigger!) so I can be lean, strong, healthy and look ripped. Sitting down to a big plate of lasagna would pretty much destroy all of my hard work.

One serving of lasagna can easily hover around 1000 calories, that is almost half of my daily caloric intake when I am not dieting!

Saturday I made this, it was healthy and it was damn good! A keeper for sure!

I will explain what I did, and then tell you what I will change next time; you decide what you want to do.

Did I mention there was no pasta involved? No starches at all!

While this may have fat in it due to the low fat cheese, I tend to shy away from most fat free foods; they tend to have added sugars and garbage. I have also been changing my diet a bit to greatly reduce starches and increase protein and fats. This is the perfect dish.

Feel free to substitute fat free if you like. Other than that, this has no “packaged” foods, it is fairly straightforward and delicious!

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Pre-heat oven to 375

20 ounce package extra lean ground turkey breast (1% fat)

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp olive oil

3 cups sliced mushrooms (I love mushrooms)

1 8 ounce can tomato sauce

1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes

Salt and pepper

½ tsp oregano

1 large or 2 small eggplant, peeled and sliced thin about ¼ inch thick

1 cup low fat cottage cheese

1 1/3 cups grated low fat mozzarella cheese

Sauté the garlic and turkey in the olive oil in a deep skillet or 3 quart pot till the meat is cooked through (this will not ever brown, no fat in it).

Add the mushrooms, the tomato sauce and tomatoes, crushing with the spoon. Add salt, pepper and oregano and simmer, stirring occasionally about 20-30 minutes till thickened.

In a small lasagna pan (approximately 8x12), place a layer of the eggplant, ½ of the cottage cheese, ½ of the turkey/tomato sauce then 2/3 cups grated mozzarella. Repeat again to make two layers.

Bake 45 minutes. Let sit about 10 minutes, cut into serving pieces and serve.

Changes: It had too much liquid; I would drain the whole tomatoes and discard the liquid. I would add I small can tomato paste and cook sauce until very, very thick.

Other than that- I loved it! 

Ratatouille

My good friend belongs to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Hers is the typical setup, you sign up for a certain length of time, say 6 months and every week, ya get what ya get!

Mine, I get a choice if I want to buy it each week, either I say yes or no, and it's at work, easy to walk over and get it, so I have the best of both worlds.

My friend is also quite the jet setter, she is always going here or there, often out of town for a few days. I love it! Why? Cause she needs someone to eat her veg!

She gets her delivery every Wednesday, so when she is  planning a trip, I get an email from her with her itinerary and I get the food. A week ago I got the delivery and when I opened it up,and took stock, I had eggplant, tomatoes, basil, onions, peppers and squash, why it was ratatouille in a box!

I pulled out my Chez Panisse cookbook and got to work, you can see most of it all diced up in the picture above. That's what takes the most time, the dicing and slicing. Once you do that, it comes together quickly.  

Ratatouille is best served cold, odd I know, but it is and that makes it even easier to prep ahead. If you have never had it, it is a French vegetable stew, not lots of liquid, but a creamy, rich texture that goes great with fish, grilled meats or chicken.  

Don't let this recipe, or ANY recipe scare you. Cooking is an art, which means you create it with what you have. If you don't have one ingredient, it does not ruin the dish, it merely changes the dish. The absolute only time you must have all ingredients is in baking, and baking is a science.

I have never been very good at baking, I think I am more artistic!

1 large eggplant
Salt
3 onions

3 red bell peppers (or any color)
4 summer squashes

5 tomatoes
10 cloves garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Hot pepper flakes

1 large bunch basil (about a 1/2 pound)

 

Set aside a handful of the basil leaves for garnish and make a bouquet garni with the rest by tying kitchen twine (cotton only!) all around it like a bundle.

Cut eggplant into 1/2 inch cubes (leave skin on), salt liberally and leave it to drain in a colander.

Peel and cut up the onions, the peppers, squashes, and tomatoes, keeping them all separate. Everything should be cut into pieces about the same size as the cubed eggplant.

Smash and peel the garlic and chop it coarsely.

Press down on the eggplant to extract more water and dry it.

In a heavy bottomed pot, heat some of the olive oil and gently fry the eggplant until golden. It will stick, and get a little mashed up, don't worry. Drain and reserve the eggplant.

Add more olive oil to the pot and over medium low heat start sauteing the onions. When they are soft and translucent, add the garlic, the hot pepper flakes and the bouquet garni. Stir for a minute.

Toss in the peppers, cook for a few minutes. Add the squash, cook for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes.

Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally then add the eggplant and cook another 15 to 25 minutes until everything is soft and the flavors have melded together. Remove the bouquet garni, pressing on it to extract all the flavors.

Adjust the seasoning with fresh chopped basil leaves, salt, pepper and a little extra fresh chopped garlic if you like.

Serve warm, cold or room temperature.

 

 

 

 

I have mine with a piece of fish, David and Cooper spoon a large helping on their plates, drizzle with extra olive oil and have it with grilled Italian sausage. 

Ratatouille is a wonderful, earthy taste of Provence, give it a try you may have only a week or two left for those wonderful ingredients as winter is soon upon us.