Vegetable Lasagna: Eggplant and Squash

Sometimes at night, after dinner is eaten and cleared away, all chores have been done or put off until some other time, there is nothing more to do except lie on the bathroom floor with your dog.

Zoey was sleeping as I washed my face. As I looked at her, I thought how she doesn’t allow me to nap like that. She licks my face or tosses a toy at my head. It was time for revenge.

At first, I brushed my hair, hovering over her to get in HER FACE!

Then I got down next to her and got in her face with the camera.

The end result was a wet kiss in the eye.

It’s so nice to have a dog. I could never do this with Ted. He wouldn’t appreciate being woken up for starters. He really wouldn’t like my hair thrown in his face. He doesn’t fall asleep on the bathroom floor, but he might kiss me in the eye.

What’s your favorite game to play with your dog/cat?

Do you buy them gifts for their birthday or for the holidays?

The other day I received the coolest surprise package

A Bob’s Red Mill Box.

A Pie Box to be exact. Inside, I found two packages of Gluten Free Pastry mix with a pie server, details on the reusable Pie Box and recipes. More on this later when I use these GF mixes over the holidays.

Sticking with the Gluten Free theme, how about a Vegetable Lasagna? It’s made with fresh produce purchased from local Farmers Markets.

There is something about a vegetable lasagna that makes you feel like you’re doing your body good.

The bulk of the dish is whole, natural vegetables. A lot of fiber and little fat.

Serves 10 in a 9 x 13 dish

*I simply salted the eggplant then layered in the lasagna dish. I think the eggplant would be better, more tender anyway, if a simple and quick sauté before layering was done. It would also bring out the flavor in the eggplant. You can do it either way. The following recipe uses eggplant raw.

The recipe is loosely written, assuming you all have made traditional lasagna before. It’s not that different only you are not using pasta, you are using long slices of vegetables.

2 large eggplant or, see above, I used a variety of smaller eggplant – peel and slice
1 large yellow squash, sliced
For the filling:
15 oz Part Skim Ricotta cheese
1 large egg
2 sliced green onion
1/2 large tomato, cubed
1/2 bag, about 4 1/2 oz Baby spinach – sautéed with a dash of garlic salt and Italian seasoning.
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 TBS fresh thyme leaves
8 oz fresh sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
For the topping:
12 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced *I used the mozzarella balls packed with parsley and sun dried tomatoes. I used the tomatoes and parsley on top of the lasagna
1 Jar (12 oz) Marinara Sauce – low salt or make your own.

Preheat oven to 375 F. and spray the sides of your baking dish with non stick. Pour just a little marinara sauce to coat the bottom of the baking dish.

Prepare the eggplant and squash by peeling eggplant, slicing, salting and allow to sit, salted in a colander for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the yellow squash. *Slices are about 1/8” thick.

Sauté the spinach as described above.

Mix the ricotta, egg, onion, tomato, sautéed spinach, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper, and mushrooms in a bowl. Set aside ready to use for assembly

To assemble, layer: Eggplant, cheese, yellow squash, sauce – repeat. Top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 60 minutes or until bubbling.