Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

So we had our friends over for dinner on Saturday night. My friend is a vegetarian and has been since she was a toddler. Since we grew up together, I have a special fondness in my heart for vegetarians. It's not always easy to find foods that are meat-less at restaurants. In fact, I remember us going to the Burger King drive-thru so she could order a "veggie whopper". The people at our local Burger King were used to us and had no problem with the order. That was years ago and while they do not have veggie burgers on the menus (yet) there are more healthy choices for vegetarians. Anyway, I digress... so when my friend comes over with her carnivorous husband, I ALWAYS have a special meal prepared for her without meat. This night I prepared Roasted Vegetable Lasagna for her and Spinach Lasagna for the rest of us. Of course, Kevin thought there was entirely too much spinach in the lasagna, but after 10 years of marriage I have gotten used to his pickiness. He ate the lasagna and picked out the spinach, and no, he did not and has not eaten any of the leftovers. That's no big surprise!

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

I began on Friday afternoon roasting veggies. I prepared enough vegetables for an 8x8 casserole dish. I peeled and sliced whole carrots length-wise and placed them on a large baking sheet. Along with the carrots, I added sliced zuchinni (sliced long, lenth-wise), yellow bell pepper wedges, and broccolini. I tossed all the vegetables in olive oil and salt and pepper and roasted them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes. I checked them after 20 minutes and gave them a toss and continued roasting them for another 20 minutes. After they were done, I let them come to room temperature and then transferred them to a plastic storage container and stored them in the refrigerator for the lasanga on Saturday.

• 10 oz box of frozen spinach, thawed, and drained
• 16 oz low-fat cottage cheese
• Pasta sauce (vegetarian, of course!)
• No-boil lasagna noodles, break to fit in dish
• Roasted vegetables
• Jar of sliced mushrooms
• 2 cups shredded monterrey jack cheese
• 2 cups shredded mozerella cheese
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• parsley

Combine the spinach and the cottage cheese in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Spray the 8x8 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. Pour about 1/4 cup pasta sauce in bottom of casserole dish. Lay the pasta noodles 3, side by side over pasta. Spread spinach/cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Arrange 1/2 the carrots and zuchinni over spinach mixture. Then layer 1/2 the broccolini and yellow peppers over them. Sprinkle the mushrooms over the pepper layer. Pour pasta sauce over the veggie layers. Sprinkle with 1 cup each jack cheese and mozerella cheese. Repeat layers beginning with noodles. Sprinkle parmesan cheese evenly over the top. Cover casserole dish with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove tin foil and bake another 15 minutes. Allow lasagna to cool about 30 minutes prior to cutting to allow layers to meld. Top with chopped parsley and enjoy!