march (cooking) madness! UPDATE

just wanted to fill you all in on the outcome of the spinach and mushroom lasagna. first, it was delicious. would i make some changes? perhaps. ok, yes. so here's what i would recommend doing differently:

1. add a little more sauce. you don't necessarily need it on every layer but i would have put more on the top layer.
2. i'd add some more spice. it was yummy but i like my food with a little kick so i'd have put some cayenne in there to turn up the heat.
3. i would, as i mentioned in the post, increase the mushroom mixture and perhaps just mix it in with the ricotta/spinach mixture and layer it in all at once. i think that might make the mixture more cohesive.

ok, those are my lessons learned. i will definitely be making this again. i also think this would be a yummy mix for stuffed shells or homemade ravioli!

march (cooking) madness!

so, the last few weeks i've been trying to live up to my new years resolution to try new recipes and cook more....that's right, no more $10 whole foods salads! with the exception of ordering sushi once a week, i am doing pretty well. god, i love sushi. but now since march madness has offically begun in my household, i decided it's time to get serious and really start cooking (don't get me wrong, i LOVE watching basketball on full blast on our tv and on our computers...oh yeah, and by love, i mean tolerate).

i recently found the show and book 'cook yourself thin' which takes traditional recipes and cuts down the calories by substituting different ingredients (e.g., cakes with no butter or oil that taste amazing and are 200 calories for a a lovely, not paper thin slice). i've made the apple spice cake and shockingly, it was good. too good. i practically ate the whole thing on my own. oops...how's that for portion size? but i realize that most of the world likes butter and oil. so you may not be quite ready for that recipe.

but who doesn't love lasagna?! here's my stab at the spinach and mushroom lasagna. i took some liberties with the recipe so we'll see how that works out (we're eating it tonight! surprise, honey, i made dinner!)

 the stars of the show - mushrooms! (i used cremini and baby bella) and spinach!

my addition: sun-dried tomatoes (not in oil version...hence looking like gross worms)

before and after...i know, based on the before, i wasn't too optimistic either but the after looks pretty good, right?

the aftermath...maybe my husband will do the dishes tonight

so here's the recipe. like i said, i didn't follow it to a tee. i added onions and sun-dried tomatoes to the mushroom mixture. oh and yes, i didn't read the directions and didn't alternate the layers with tomato sauce. yeah, we'll see how it tastes but i can tell you my house smells amazing from just the prep work (which took about 30 min.)

enjoy!

spinach and mushroom veggie lasagna

makes 12 servings (we'll see about that)

337 calories per serving

2 tablespoons of olive oil (i used 1)

1.5 pounds of cremini and/or shitake mushrooms (i recommend more!)

1 teaspoon dried thyme

pinch of kosher salt

1 15oz part skim ricotta (i eyeballed this)

3/4 cup skim milk

2 eggs (i used 1)

3 cups of shredded mozzarella (i used about 1.5 - 1 in the mixture and 0.5 on top)

3/4 cup grated parmesean

1 10 oz frozen spinach  (i used fresh spinach, about 3/4 of a package)

1/3 cup of fresh basil

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

pinch of ground pepper

5 cups of tomato sauce (i used about 1 - 0.5 for the bottom of the pan and 0.5 on the top layer...oops)

12 sheets of no-cook lasagna noodles

non-stick cooking spray

directions

1. preheat oven to 375
2. heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. add mushrooms and thyme and season with salt (and pepper). cook until softened (about 10-12 minutes)
3. in medium bowl, combine ricotta, milk, eggs and stir. add 1 c of the mozzarella, the parm, spinach, basil, and oregano. season with salt/pepper.
4. spread 1 cup of tomato sauce on bottom of 9x13x2 pan. layer 4 sheets of lasagna, slightly overlapping. spread half the ricotta mixture on the noodles and cover with half the mushroom. mix. top with 1.5 c of tomato sauce. repeat with 4 layers. cover top layer with tomato sauce and remaining mozzarella.
5. lightly coat sheet of foil with cooking spray and cover uncooked lasagna. 
6. bake at 375 for 45 min
7. remove foil and increase oven temp to 475. cook until cheese browns (approx 12 min).
8. 8. let stand for 15 min before cutting. serve warm and garnish with basil.

hmmm...so after typing that, i realize that i probably should have actually read the directions myself prior to starting this. my layers don't have tomato sauce...just the top and bottom layers. i used less cheese, only 1 egg, and i didn't see the stray noodle in the box so my top layer only has 3 noodles. ahh, the joys of cooking...ok, enjoy!!