No-Noodle Zucchini Lasagna

Welcome to our first Food for Thought Friday! Each week we will be providing our athletes with delicious and healthy alternatives to cook during the week to keep you on track for your nutrition goals. Either a video or a blog will be posted every Friday so you can easily follow along to cook a nutritious meal for the whole family. Guaranteed that they won’t even realize it’s healthy!

For our first Food for Though Friday meal, we have chosen No-Noodle Zucchini Lasagna. This recipe was submitted by Jill Welch on www.allrecipes.com. This is what Jill had to say about this recipe: “Looking for a low-carb dinner to satisfy your Italian food craving? Look no further! This lasagna is perfect in the summer with your garden-fresh veggies and herbs, or in the winter when you need a comforting meal. You won’t even miss the noodles in this one!”

Ingredients:

2 large zucchini
1 tablespoon salt
1 pound ground beef
1-1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 small green bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1 cup tomato paste
1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce
1-1/4 cup red wine
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
Hot water as needed
1 egg
1 (15 ounce) container low-fat ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
8 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a deep 9×13 inch baking pan.
Slice zucchini lengthwise into very think slices. Sprinkle slices lightly with salt; set aside to drain in a colander.
To prepare the meat sauce, cook and stir ground beef and black pepper in a large skillet over medium high heat for 5 minutes. Add in green pepper and onion; cook and sir until meat is no longer pink. Stir in tomato paste, tomato sauce, wine, basil and oregano, adding a small amount of hot water if sauce is too thick. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer sauce for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
Meanwhile, stir egg, ricotta and parsley together in a bowl until well combined.
To assembly lasagna, spread 1/2 of the meat sauce into the bottom of prepared pan. Then layer 1/2 the zucchini slices, 1/2 of the ricotta mixture, all of the spinach, followed by all of the mushrooms, then 1/2 the mozzarella cheese. Repeat by layering the remaining meat sauce, zucchini slices, ricotta mixture and mozzarella. Spread Parmesan cheese evenly over the top; cover with foil.
Bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil; raise over temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Hope you and your family enjoy this low-carb take on lasagna. Keep it even healthier by purchasing leaner choices of ground beef. Pair this meal with a side salad made with fresh veggies and a light dressing and you’ve got yourself a meal fit for a king! Give it a try and let us know what you think! Until next Friday, have a great weekend guys!

You can find the whole recipe at https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/172958/no-noodle-zucchini-lasagna/.