Always the adjectives

I love making new recipes.  The problem that I run into is that I hate naming new recipes.  Dietitians tend to be a bit too gung-ho about hyping up their recipes.  A google search yields the following:

Out-of-this-world turkey soup

Magical macaroni & cheese

Lovely lemon pudding

Blissful brownies

Zippy zingy three-bean chili

Given that I read recipes such as these each day, I'm tempted to label last night's lasagna "Very veggie lasagna!"  Cheeeeeeeeese-ball.  It's accurate though at least.  Comfort food packed with veggies.  One serving of this provides you with 300% of your vitamin K needs for the day and 3 servings of veggies.  I like to package up leftover lasagna in individual squares to freeze.  In case you've ever seen the inside of my freezer, that there answers the questions of "why are there bricks wrapped in Glad?"

Lasagna.  With vegetables. 
-6 oven-ready lasagna noodles (I used Creamette and they fit nicely in my 9x13 glass dish)
-1 jar of Ragu light alfredo sauce
-1 package frozen cut-leaf spinach, microwaved
-1 container part skim ricotta cheese
-2 large zucchini squash, thinly sliced the long way (into nice long thin strips)
-1 cup shredded carrots
-3 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
-1-2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
-garlic
-2 cups part skim shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Spray your 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Lay down three noodles to cover the bottom of the pan.  Mine had a bit of a gap, but that's okay.  You're going to be cramming plenty of stuff in this dish.
2. Cut up your chicken into 1" chunks and saute in olive oil until thoroughly cooked.  Add a pinch of garlic.  Chop up cooked chicken into fine pieces and spread on top of the noodles.
3. Spoon half the sauce on top of the chicken.  Sprinkle on 1/4th of your cheese.  Next layer on your thin zucchini. 
4. Mix ricotta cheese with the warmed spinach.  Spoon on top of zucchini layer.  Add shredded carrots.
5. Add your second layer of noodles.  Layer tomatoes on top of noodles.  Spoon remaining sauce on top of tomatoes.  Finish by topping with remaining cheese. 
6. Spray a sheet of tin foil with your nonstick cooking spray and cover the dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is browned and bubbly.  Let cool for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

*A note about all these ingredients-
-I used carrots simply because I had a bag of leftovers in the fridge.  I used chicken because I happened to have some.  I used spinach because it kept falling out of my freezer every time I opened it, thereby begging to be eaten.  Use whatever veggies sound good to you.  Use this lasagna as a chance to clean out your veggie drawer. 

Serves 6.  Per serving: 415 calories, 32 g carbs, 16 g fat, 31 g protein.

**New Year's resolution: stop taking food pictures with my Blackberry and carry a camera at all times.