Vegetable Lasagna

I spend a lot of time thinking about food...not sure that is a good thing, maybe that is why I got to the place where I am now, desperately needing to lose weight for my health. Food is just something I tend to always have bouncing around in my head however now that I am on PINK, instead of thinking about bad food, I have shifted to thinking about good foods and how I can prepare them in new and exciting ways. Well this is one of those foods I had bouncing around in my brain.

It all started when I made this Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce. Prior to PINK, I had made a fabulous lasagna using a jarred butternut squash sauce, ricotta cheese, mozzerella cheese and of course pasta. It was great but totally off limits with my new healthy eating plan. I wondered if I could somehow recreate the dish without cheese and it just popped into my head, "What if I used pureed cauliflower instead of the ricotta, it sort of has the texture of a creamy ricotta." I knew I was on to something and I had to try it out. The results were great.

Vegetable Lasagna (makes enough for 2 servings)
1/2 cup roasted butternut squash pasta sauce (could sub marinara sauce also)
2 small zucchinis sliced lengthwise
3/4 cup cauliflower puree
1 cup chopped spinach
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1 egg (I used to in the pictures and had way more puree than I needed)
Italian seasoning
Salt
Pepper

Method

 Start by cutting up and steaming your cauliflower (if you have left over puree, use that instead)

Puree your cauliflower in a blender or food processor

Add in your desired amount of salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to the cauliflower puree

Note, I made way to much cauliflower puree than is needed, only use one egg or you will have a runny mess with tons left over

Let the cauliflower cool slightly then add in your egg to the ricotta and stir to combine. Make sure your cauliflower isn't to hot or else you will end up with scrambled eggs, you don't want that. The egg will act as your binder and help to hold the dish together.

While the cauliflower is cooling, prepare your spinach and mushroom filling.

Saute your spinach, mushrooms and onions in a mist of olive oil. It will cook rather quickly, you just want the spinach to wilt slightly and the mushrooms and onions to soften.

Thinly slice your zucchinis lengthwise, these will take the place of the traditional pasta.

Assembly


You will assemble just as you would a normal lasagna, just in case you haven't made one before, I'll walk you through it and give you some alternatives.

Begin by spreading some of your butternut squash pasta sauce (or marinara) on the bottom of you pan. I used to individual size spring-form pans but use what you have, a loaf pan would work great also.

Layer your thinly sliced zucchini on top of your sauce

Spread your cauliflower mash on top of your zucchini

I totally forgot to take this picture, use your imagination to sprinkle some of you spinach mushroom filling on top of the cauliflower (you could also use lean ground turkey or beef as a filling, especially if you are using marinara, this would make for a more traditional lasagna)

Top with more pasta sauce and repeat your layers over and over until your pan is full making sure to top everything with a little more sauce.

Bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes

Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes before serving. This helps to keep your lasagna from being to runny.

Enjoy.

Note: I am putting this under primary recipes because I believe the squash sauce would be considered a carb however if you were to sub marinara sauce for the squash sauce, I believe it would be reset friendly. I also considered the egg in the cauliflower mash my protein but since it was split between two servings, I really should have added more protein to this meal.

Zuppa Toscana Pink Style

We had another cold day here in Oregon...we had snow mixed with rain yesterday, not that we had any accumulation but it triggered that need in me for comfort food. Anyone else have that happen when it is cold outside? No, hmm maybe it is just me.  Well, because of the wonders of cauliflower I was able to make one of my favorite soups, Zuppa Toscana.

I first tried this soup at the Olive Garden which contains Italian sausage, potatoes and kale in a cream based broth, it is so good. Well, cream and potatoes in the volume they are in this soup are a no, no on PINK. I am pretty sure that the full fledged sausage called for in the original soup is also a no no. However by subbing cauliflower for the potatoes and cream in the original soup and using a lean turkey sausage, I can now enjoy my favorite soup again. Yippy! At the end of the post, I also will tell you how I make the soup for my family since they aren't as gung-ho about cauliflower as I am.

Zuppa Toscana PINK Style
1 head of cauliflower
1 white onion (you will used 1/3 for your soup, 2/3 for the family version)
1 20 ounce package of Italian style turkey sausage (you will use 4 ounces for your soup, the rest goes into the family version)
       -Note: I used the Foster Farm brand, it is just lean ground turkey,  mixed with the spices used in Italian  
                 Sausage. It does not come in a casing like a traditional sausage does. It is 96% fat free so I          
                 think it meets the requirements of PINK for lean ground turkey.
4 cups low sodium chicken broth (1 1/2 cup for pink version, 2 1/2 cups for the family version)
Kale
2 tsp chopped garlic
3/4 cup half and half (only for the family version, not the PINK version)

Method
Start by browning your ground turkey sausage. When it is cooked thoroughly pull out 4 ounces of the turkey sausage for your soup.

Chop up a head of cauliflower and your small onion.

Add your cauliflower, turkey sausage, garlic, 1/3 of your chopped onion and 1 1/2 cup chicken broth to your pan and let simmer until the cauliflower has softened.

Pull out about half of the cooked cauliflower along with a little bit of broth and blend in the blender. You are wanting to create a smooth paste, a little thinner than if you were making mashed cauliflower.

Take your mashed cauliflower and add it back into your soup. Stir it around. The mashed cauliflower when added to soup will give the soup/broth a creamy like consistency.

Chop up your kale, I ended up with about 2 cups and used 3/4 cup in the PINK friendly soup and added the rest to the family version.

Add your kale to your soup and stir to combine.

The heat from the soup will wilt the kale.

Spoon into a bowl and Enjoy!

Family Version
For the family version, you will make it the same as the PINK version except use potatoes instead of cauliflower.

Add potatoes, 2/3 chopped onion, garlic, ground turkey and chicken broth to a large pot and let simmer until the potatoes have softened.

Once the potatoes have softened, instead of making the cauliflower paste like you do above, simply add your half and half to give your soup a creamy consistency.

Add your Kale to your soup and stir so that the kale will wilt.

Spoon into  a bowl and let your family Enjoy!