It’s Not a Cucumber

Who knew something healthy could sound soooo good.

A Dietitian’s View: A Twist on Lasagna: Layered Zucchini

This is also good without the cottage cheese filling – not a big fan of any cottage cheese/ricotta cheese lasagna layer. The mozzarella still makes it cheesey.

4 cups water
6 cups sliced zucchini (about 3 medium)
1 pound ground round
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups low-fat spaghetti sauce (such as Muir Glen Organic)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups fat-free cottage cheese
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs, divided
1 3/4 cups (3 1/2 ounces) preshredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350?∞.
Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add zucchini; cook 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and cool.

Place the beef and garlic in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in the spaghetti sauce, salt, basil, and oregano; cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Combine the cottage cheese, parsley, and eggs in a medium bowl.

Arrange zucchini slices in a shallow 3-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle the zucchini with half of the breadcrumbs. Spread half of cottage cheese mixture over breadcrumbs; cover with half of the meat mixture and 1 cup mozzarella. Repeat the layers with the remaining breadcrumbs, cottage cheese mixture, and meat mixture; reserve the remaining mozzarella. Bake at 350?∞ for 40 minutes.

Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella, and bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

Yield: 10 servings

CALORIES 210(30% from fat); FAT 7.1g (sat 3g,mono 2.8g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 20.9g; CHOLESTEROL 69mg; CALCIUM 153mg; SODIUM 554mg; FIBER 2.3g; IRON 2.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 14.8g

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