Vegetarian Lasagna

By taking out the pasta noodles and meats, you've instantly removed 380 calories per serving without sacrificing any of the wonderful flavors of a traditional lasagna.  Roasting or grilling the vegetables before adding to the lasagna,  gives the vegetables a richer, deeper flavor that brings the flavors of this dish to a whole new level.  You can have seconds of this dish without having to run an extra five miles or increasing any cardio workouts to make up for it. 




1 to 2  large eggplant, fresh.  sliced thin, lengthwise.
20 oz fresh spinach
2 roma tomatoes, sliced thin
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1/2 yellow pepper, sliced thin
1/2 large red onion, sliced thin
1 pint fresh sliced mushrooms
1 sm.zucchini, sliced thin
1 sm.summer squash, sliced thin.
1 1/2 cups low-fat cottage cheese or Part skim ricotta
3 cups of a foody crafts, HEARTY marinara sauce or store bought reduced sodium, chunky style marinara
1 egg white
1 1/2 cups part skim reduced Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup 2% Provolone cheese
1/8 cup part skim parmesan
2 tsp canola oil 
Salt and pepper


Preheat oven to 400* or stove top griddle or grill.
Cut all the vegetables up either by hand or in food processor and put in a large mixing bowl. Start out by lightly oiling, salt and peppering the prepped vegetables then, thoroughly mix.  For oven roasted veggies, spread the vegetables out on cookie sheets excluding the spinach and mushrooms then, bake for 10-30 minutes or until partially cooked and most the water in the vegetables is drawn out. (may require more time)  Remove from oven and turn oven temp down to 375*
For stove top griddle or grill, spread vegetables out in griddle or grill and cook until most of the water is drawn out of the vegetables.

Combine  3/4 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup provolone with 1 1/2 cups cottage or ricotta cheese, egg white and parmesan cheese.  Season with garlic powder, oregano, fresh basil and pepper to taste and set aside.

Start by, greasing 7" x 11" x 2"  dish and spooning 1/4 to a 1/2 cup of marinara sauce in the bottom.  Layer the bottom with cooked eggplant. Spoon marinara sauce over the eggplant. Dollop cheese mixture over sauce then layer in roasted mixed veggies.  Keeping it as flat as possible.  Spoon more marinara sauce over the mixed roasted veggies and add another layer of eggplant.  Press down and repeat  those steps, one to two more times or until you're out of the eggplant. Spoon the remaining marinara and cheese mix over the top and try to even it out as much as possible.  Sprinkle the remaining shredded provolone and mozzarella cheese over the top and bake for 40-45 minutes, covered with aluminum foil 15-20 minutes uncovered, until bubbling and golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool 15 minutes before serving.