Recipe: Reverse Lasagna

Lasagna has always been one of my favorite foods.  What's not to like? Traditional lasagna involves layers of pasta, meat and cheese (often several different types of meat and cheese).  Then there are the "veggie" lasagnas from places like Whole Foods that replace the missing meat with several times the normal amount of cheese and sinfully scrumptious things like pine nut pesto or béchamel sauce.  Delicious no doubt, but hardly a food that belongs on a healthy eating plan, much less a weight loss regime. Well, thanks to an inspiration from my friend Sarah, a bonafide gourmet home chef, I have come up with a tasty but healthy lasagna recipe.  I call it "reverse lasagna" because it has a fraction of the pasta and cheese and about 5 x the vegetables of a traditional lasagna. You may recognize the reverse concept from past posts of mine.  In my Breakfast of Champions post I talked about my favorite healthy breakfast which is basically a reverse omelet (2 eggs scrambled and topped with a cup of sauteed veggies and a sprinkle of parm cheese) and in this post I talked about losing weight by reversing your plate and eating veggies as a main dish and meat or pasta as a side dish.  This lasagna recipe is a great way to embrace that tip in a main course.

Reverse Lasagna
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Boil between 6 and 10 whole wheat lasagna noodles (I use the drum semolina noodles Bionature) depending on the size of your baking dish and the number of people you are serving. You need enough to make two single layers of noodles.  Rinse with cold water.
Slice an eggplant thin and lay the slices on a paper towel. Douse both sides with salt. Once they have sweated for about 20 min (this takes the bitterness out), transfer to a baking sheet covered with foil and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Toss chopped zucchini and tomatoes (cherry, grape or roma) with olive oil, pepper, sea salt and any Italian herbs you have on hand.  Stick in the oven.  After about 15-20 min, stick the eggplant on a lower rack.
Begin preparing your rich tomato sauce or any tomato sauce you like (you can just heat a can of diced tomatoes with Italian herbs in a pinch).
Once the tomato sauce is done and the roasted veggies look about 90% done (lightly brown and crispy), brush a baking dish with olive oil and line with one layer of noodles. It doesn't matter if there is some empty space.  Top with roasted veggies.  Top veggies with a light layer of crumbled goat cheese.  Top with another layer of noodles.  Top 2nd layer with eggplant and sauce.  If you have any noodles left, break into pieces and put on top (do not completely cover).  Sprinkle grated or shredded parmesan cheese on top. Cover with tinfoil and put it in the oven for 10 minutes. Uncover and heat for another 5 minutes or until cheese looks crispy.  Cool and serve.

You can of course add lean ground turkey or beef to your sauce or substitute the eggplant with spinach or add any other veggies you like to the roasting pan.  You could also use just parmesan or sub mozzarella for the goat cheese.  The point is to get maximum flavor from a minimum amount of fat and carbohydrates compared to normal lasagna. My husband LOVES this dish and although he does not eat meat, he is a big eater.  We usually eat this by itself in a generous portion with just a glass of red wine on the side.  This is a great way to get your veggies and feel a little decadent at the same time.

Enjoy!