100 New Recipes, #2

I took out the slow cooker today.  (Must be fall, huh?)  Tonight I needed to rush home from yoga and be finished eating by 7 PM because tomorrow I am having the Community Diagnostic Blood Analysis done.

For a mere $49 I will allow a fledgling phlebotomist to poke me about 17 times in the arm in the attempt to find one “good vein,” and then draw 2 vials of blood.  This blood will then be subjected to the GRE of blood tests, and in a few weeks I will get a 2 page report telling me more about my blood than I probably care to know.

It’s a “fasting” blood test, so that’s why I had to eat quickly tonight.  No food for 12-14 hours before.

I found an intriguing recipe for lasagna in a slow cooker.  Worth a try, right?  Who wouldn’t want to walk in from a tough day on the yoga mat to the aroma of lasagna cooking, right, Garfield?

I had my doubts about this, but it turned out great, so I’m adding it as #2 in the long trudge toward 100 new recipes.

Tomorrow I am doing the Ives Run Trail Challenge.  (I’ll be one with the hiking poles and the junkie arms.)

Vegetarian Lasagna

Prep: 15 minutes

Slow cook: about 2.5 hours on low or 1.5 hours on high.

Makes 8 Main dish servings

Ingredients:

1 jar Mainara sauce (25 oz size)

1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz size)

1 Package oven-ready (no boil) lasagna noodles (8 – 9 oz size)

1 container (15 oz) part-skim ricotta cheese

1 package (8 oz) shredded Italian cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese

1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1 cup frozen veggie crumbles (or 8 oz ground beef)

Grated Parmesean (optional)

Directions:

1. In medium bowl combine marinara and tomatoes with their juice.
2. Spray slow cooker bowl with non-stick cooking spray.  Spoon 1 cup tomato sauce mixture into bowl. Arrange one-quarter of noodles over sauce, overlapping noodles and breaking into large pieces to cover as much sauce as possible. Spoon about three-quarters cup of sauce over noodles, then top with one third of ricotta (about half cup), and a half cup shredded cheese.  Spread half of spinach over cheese.
3. Repeat layering 2 more times beginning with noodles, but in middle layer, replace spinach with frozen veggie crumbles.  Place the remaining noodles over spinach, then top with remaining sauce and shredded cheese.
4. Cover slow cooker with lid and cook on low for 2 – 3 hours or high for 1 and half to 1 and three-quarter hours or until cheese is melted and noodles are very tender.  Sprinkle parmesean on top and serve.

About 415 calories per serving. 24g protein, 41g carbs, 17g fat (8 saturated), 6g fiber, 37mg cholesterol, 1120mg sodium.