Veggie lasagna: kale, eggplant and broccoli

I really wanted lasagna for dinner but didn’t want to make a separate vegetable, so I threw them all in, substituting 2 layers of noodles with eggplant. I have looked in every store that I frequent (including Whole Foods, which I did not actually enter and don’t actually frequent, but David tells me they don’t have it) for whole wheat lasagna noodles. No dice, so I just used Barillo. Amazon has a couple of different brands which I am going to try.

You’ll need:

• 2 cups finely chopped broccoli
• 2-3 handfuls kale, also finely chopped
• 1 large eggplant
• 1 cup fat free Trader Joe’s cottage cheese
• 15 oz fat free ricotta
• 1 egg
• 1 jar of RAO’s homemade tomato basil sauce (more if you want sauce for serving)
• 12 oz bag Trader Joe’s shredded low fat mozzarella
• 6 no-boil lasagna noodles (I used Barillo)

Slice 6 pieces of the eggplant lengthwise, about 1/4” thick, and broil on both sides for 3-5 minutes each. Set aside.

Finely chop the broccoli and kale and sauté in a non-stick pan with a little olive oil, uncovered, until a little crispy.

Broccoli and kale before cooking – shrinks down a lot when done.

Whisk the egg in a small mixing bowl, add ricotta and cottage cheese and mix well.

I used a lasagna pan; this many layers and ingredients would probably be too much for a 13x9 pan. Drizzle a little sauce on the bottom of the pan and place 3 noodles on top. Spoon about 1/4 of the ricotta mixture in dollops onto the noodles, followed by a thin layer of mozzarella.

Cover with 3 slices of eggplant, perpendicular to the noodles if there’s space (I fit 2 that way), followed by another 1/4 of the ricotta mixture. Spoon more sauce in dollops, then sprinkle the broccoli/kale mixture in an even layer. Cover with a thin layer of mozzarella, and three more noodles.

The rest of the layers are the same portions, and I did them in this order: Ricotta, sauce, eggplant, ricotta, mozzarella, noodles, sauce, remainder of the mozzarella.

Cover and bake on 350 for 25 minutes, uncover and bake for another 10, let stand for about 10 minutes before serving!

Divided into 6 (BIG) servings, this only comes out to about 340 calories per serving!