Personal Training

Meat Free, Healthied Lasagna

Posted on by Naomi
Hey friends!
Its Hanukkah! Just thought you all should know, because well its exciting for me!

So I got these boots. Amazing, beautiful boots that I cannot wait to wear.
These are the Cole Haan “Air Kennedy” Boot. So hot right now.

I decided to give you all a Hanukkah gift. Its a lasagna…YAY. But really. Its good. Like, really good. I made it this weekend and was so pleased with the result! I am going to share my recipe with you all but I must warn you. When I make up recipes from scratch, I NEVER measure anything. I always just eyeball, so I will try to write down measurements, but if you copy this recipe and it comes out horrid–I warned you! It was DELICIOUS though. By far, one of the best ‘healthified’ lasagnas I have ever made!

It started with some organic, whole wheat lasagna.
I wast making a HUGE lasagna and I was cutting the pasta intake in half as well by using zucchini slices. I cooked up about 7 sheets.
Next up some thinly sliced zucchini
Meanwhile, I cooked up some lean ground turkey breast with some sweet white onions in a separate skillet. (I ended up leaving out the turkey in its entirety and making this a meat-free lasagna, but I did eat some turkey on the side for some extra protein!)
In a separate bowl, I combined low fat ricotta cheese with fresh cut basil and egg whites
That’s liquid egg whites being added to the cheese mixture
To ‘spice it up’ even more I added about 1/2 tablespoon of pizza seasoning as well as 1 tsp garlic powder (you could use real garlic!)
The cheesy mixture before the layering started!
In a medium, oval sized casserole dish, the first layer was laid down which was the tomato sauce. I used HOMEMADE tomato sauce that I always have on hand in the freezer, but you could use whatever tomato sauce that you like! I personally find the chunkier the better when it comes to pasta sauce!
Next up was the lasagna noodles and then the zucchini slices (I pre cooked the zucchini with salt, pepper and olive oil on a cookie sheet)
Mushroom layer up next
Then the ricotta/basil mixture gets layered on
On top of the ricotta mixture, I sprinkled on some non-dairy mozzarella cheese that I found in Whole Foods. It is made from almonds and it melted beautifully!
Before it hit the oven
After 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Bubbling, cheesy (yet light) lasagna!

Meat Free Lightened Up Lasagna

Ingredients
  • 8-10 lasagna sheets (you could use whole wheat or regular!) 
  • 1 1/2 C pasta sauce (homemade or any type you like)
  • 1 C low fat ricotta cheese
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/3 C fresh diced basil
  • 1 egg white
  • 2 medium sized zucchinis (thinly sliced the long way)
  • 2 C mushrooms (I used white button mushrooms)
  • 2/3 C shredded cheese (can use any brand/type you like!) 
Method
  • If you did not buy ‘no boil’ lasagna, then go ahead and boil the noodles according to the box directions
  • Lay out the zucchini slices on a sprayed cookie sheet and roast for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees (you don’t have to pre cook them, but I love the pre-roasted flavor)
  • Meanwhile, get started making your ricotta mixture by combining the ricotta cheese with the basil, garlic, egg white and any other spices that you wish
  • To begin layering the lasagna, take out a good sized casserole dish and pour 1/2 C sauce on the bottom evenly spread.
  • Next, layer down 3 lasagna noodles
  • Next, layer on half of the roasted zuchinni slices
  • Next, layer on the mushrooms
  • Next, layer on 1/2 of the ricotta mixture. 
  • Next, layer on 1/3 C shredded cheese
  • REPEAT the layering process once more starting with the sauce and ending with the shredded cheese.
  • Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. 
  • ENJOY!
And I killed a lower body workout today…

Back squats (touch butt to bench) 5×10,10,8,8,6 (95-115 lbs)
superset 
Glute Bridges (feet on Bosu ball) 5×15

RDL 4×10,10,10,8 (100-115lbs)
superset 
16kg KB swing 4×15 swings

Bulgarian split squat (holding  12kg KB in opposite hand) 3×10 each leg
superset
Val slide lateral slide lunges (holy glutes!) 3×10 each side

Ab wheel roll out 3×12
Low plank 3×60 seconds

ANNNNDDDD I’m off to go sink my face into this project:

Happy Holidays, friends. 

Side note: When I went to spell check this post, I didn’t spell ZUCCHINI correct once! 

What word can you never get right?


Naomi
Naomi