Veggie Italian Bake

NOTE: Oh, lawd. I finally tried it. Too many zucchinis, I think. Changed up the recipe some.

This is adapted from a low-carb (noodle-free) lasagna from the Dashing Dish blog.

Veg/Sauce layer:
3 medium zucchinis
1 large yellow onion, diced

1 (16oz) package frozen spinach
2 cups black beans (I made mine from scratch in a crock pot the day before. Cheap!)
1 (15oz) can or jar of pizza sauce
2 cloves of garlic, minced (I use the stuff from a jar)
4 Tbsp Italian seasoning

Cheese layer:
1 (32oz) container of ricotta cheese (I've also made this using 16oz of cottage cheese, which was also good)
1/2 cup grated parmesan (using the powdered kind may help thicken up the juices)
Topping:
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (this varies, depending how cheesy I want it to be)

1. Slice all the zucchinis into medallions, salt them, and cook them until soft in a stock pot (not crock pot). Salt them lightly to draw out the moisture. This takes a while and requires quite a bit of periodic stirring. Alternatively, spread them on a couple cookie sheets and roast them at 425F for five minutes on each side.

2. If you haven't used the oven yet, preheat the oven to 375F. Microwave the spinach according to the package directions.

3. VEGGIES: In a large non-stick skillet, cook the onion, mushrooms, and garlic until the onion's soft. Combine the rest of the veggies (including zucchini & beans), the seasonings, and the entire can or jar of pizza sauce in the skillet with the onion, mushrooms, and garlic. Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. CHEESE: Mix the ricotta (or cottage cheese) & the parmesan cheese.

5. Spray a 9x13" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Begin with a layer of the veg mix, top it with a layer of the cheese mix, then sprinkle mozzarella on top of that cheese mix if you like. Continue like this until the casserole dish is full ending with a layer of mozzarella on top.

6. Cover with foil (try not to let the foil touch the mozzarella) and bake at 375F for 1 hour.

7. Remove the foil and bake another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and/or brown (brown cheese doesn't sound good, though).

8. CAREFULLY remove from oven. It will probably have a lot of hot, boiling liquid around the edges. Let the casserole rest for about 10 minutes before serving.


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The thinking behind the modifications I made:
1. Beans instead of meat
I am a cheapskate plus I have a family history of gout, so I am trying to cut back on meat.
I realize this recipe probably does not count as low-carb since it includes black beans, but I'd rather have black beans than pasta if I'm having carbs.

2. Spices
I doubled the garlic & spices as per usual.

3. Pizza sauce rather than spaghetti sauce
This is a juicy recipe with all the veg, so you don't really need a ton of spaghetti sauce. I've also noticed that it seems to be easier to find pizza sauce that doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup (or other sugars) than it is to find a clean spaghetti sauce.

4. Zucchini medallions rather than strips
I made it once using the strips that the Dashing Dish called for. I found it to be too much trouble for a supposed structure that was lost when I dished up the portion, anyway. I'm far too lazy for such a low return on investment.

5. Omission of broccoli & cauliflower
I like broccoli but not in spaghetti sauce. It turns out that everything fills the casserole dish very nicely without the cauliflower, too (which was not as gross in the spaghetti sauce as broccoli, but still yuck).

Veggie Chili

This is adapted from the Chock-Full-of-Veggies Chili Recipe I found on Food.com.

Basically, I think that celery is bullshit in any kind of chili and this chili was too bland, so I doubled the spices.

I also use kidney beans instead of pinto beans and added cayenne pepper.*

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 bell peppers, chopped
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, chopped [I don't really measure these, I just use one of those little 8oz packages]
1 large onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced [I use the stuff from a jar]
2 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes [make sure you buy plain ones, and check the label for high fructose corn syrup]
Cayenne pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add peppers, mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Cook about 7 minutes until vegetables begin to soften. Add seasonings and continue to cook an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add beans and tomatoes with all their juices and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer 25 to 30 minutes, until chili is fragrant and slightly thickened.

I'm eating mine with grated cheddar cheese & a dollop of cottage cheese stirred in. I have beer, but I forgot to chill it. Maybe I'll have those with leftovers tomorrow night. :-)

*forgot to add cayenne pepper to the written recipe. Oops! Edited 3/11/2014.