Comfort Zucchini Lasanga

Ahhh lasagna, what a wonderful belly filling meal! It can make any bad day feel like it never happened. But why should we have to sacrifice a healthy body for a moment of culinary therapy? WE SHOULDN'T. I crave lasagna in every season, every temperature and any setting, so when I found a clean zucchini lasagna, I knew I had to give it a try. And you know what? It's freaken delicious. It satisfies any melted cheese craving and gives you a healthy dose of veggies and not to mention flavor! This is also an awesome meal you can make that will feed you all week long! Because it's full of veggies and not pasta or heavy cheese, this makes for a perfect summer meal. Make it on sunday and have it for lunch and/ or dinner the following week. It's kind to your wallet and the portions are big enough to keep you full and never bloated or weighed down. It's the lasagna that keeps on giving! This Lasagna is that home cooked meal away from home. And it is so simple! Anyone with zero cooking skills could make this!

Now why is this Lasagna considered clean, you ask? This dish hits on all the major macro nutrients. it is PACKED with protein, 48 grams per serving to be exact! All that awesome protein comes from the lean ground turkey, 1% fat cottage cheese and fat free mozzarella. Just because the cheeses do not have a high fat content does not mean you will lose that wonderful gooey cheese!  Zucchini Lasagna also has just the right amount of healthy fats and your energizing carbs come for the zucchini and onions. This Lasagna has it all and is definitely one of my new favorites! You certainly won't miss the pasta and you will welcome the extra room you have for a Chocolate Chunk Banana Muffin ;).

Now how can I prove to you that this lasagna is no joke on flavor? Well, my father is a stickler for flavor. You can always tell he doesn't like a dish if he says nothing during dinner. Also, my dad doesn't like to hear that a dish is "healthy" before he eats it, he equates this automatically with a dish having no flavor. WHICH IS NOT TRUE! Anyways, you can imagine the joy I felt when my father's face lit up after his first bite and he said "This is pretty good!" He even had seconds! Always a good sign with poppa bear. I impressed one of my toughest culinary critics which means this dish is a winner!

Click Here of the PRINTABLE RECIPE!


Ingredients:

1 large sweet yellow onion, chopped
1 lb 99% fat free ground turkey breast
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
3 large or 4 small zucchini, sliced thinly lengthwise (I honestly only end up using 1 1/2 zucchinis because I use a smaller dish)
24 oz low-fat or 1% or 2% cottage cheese1 jar of spaghetti sauce (I used Rao's Tomato Sauce, you can find it at any supermarket. It's clean! No sugar added and very little salt)
Non-fat or low-fat mozzarella cheese, shredded (I found you only need one bag of mozzarella to do the job)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.1. Combine onion, ground turkey breast, sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder in a skillet over medium heat, cooking the turkey until it is no longer pink.

2. Layer zucchini in the bottom of your lasagna pan just as you would lasagna noodles, covering any gaps with additional slices of zucchini.

3. Spread 12 oz of cottage cheese over the layer of zucchini. I like to add a little basil with the cheese just for some added flavor :) 

4. Add ground turkey mixture over cottage cheese, careful to spread turkey evenly.

5. Layer approximately 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce over the cottage cheese and turkey mixture. (This picture is the sauce over the zucchini but it gives you an idea of how even the sauce should be.)

6. Repeat steps 2-5.
7. Place your last layer of zucchini over the second layer of cottage cheese, turkey mixture and cottage cheese.8. Top with tomato spaghetti sauce and add shredded cheese.

9. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

10. Remove tinfoil and bake for an additional 5 minutes at 350 degrees to brown cheese.

11. Let rest for approximately 10 minutes and Enjoy!


Now, Shut Up and Eat.

Note: This lasagna will be a little runny because of the consistency of the tomato sauce, moisture in the cottage cheese and the amount of water that zucchini hold. Just scoop out your lasagna and the excess liquid will stay in your pan.

Nutrition: (Best part!!!) Makes 6 servings. 1 Serving= 380 calories, 12.5 g fat, 18.5g carbs, 48.8g protein.

Recipe from He and She Eat Clean Blog