Craving Lasagne?

_ Every time I glance into my pantry, I see a package of lasagna noodles. Since I don’t ... well, can’t eat cheese (or any dairy) I never know quite what to do with these noodles! With the Internet at my fingertips one quick Google search for “no cheese lasagna” and I had pages of sites!

The first one was on Rachael Ray’s site. It was a Bob Greene recipe and after reading the recipe I just knew it was going to be gross. It uses almonds and walnuts - both of which offer great nutritional value - plus it has no meat or dairy so if it’s good I’ll be thrilled. The website shown below is actually a video of Bob Greene on the Rachael Ray Show demonstrating the preparation.

Here is Bob Greene’s No-Cheese Vegetable Lasagna recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
    •    Vegetable cooking spray
    •    ½ cup almonds
    •    ½ cup walnuts
    •    1 onion, thinly sliced
    •    2 cloves garlic, minced
    •    1 cup fresh basil leaves
    •    1/8 tsp. Nutmeg
    •    1/8 tsp. Salt
    •    black pepper, to taste
    •    ½ cup water
    •    1 cup store-bought marinara sauce, such as Barilla
    •    4-ounces uncooked, whole wheat lasagna noodles
    •    2 cups spinach, washed thoroughly
    •    2 cups fresh tomatoes, sliced and chopped or canned, no salt added diced tomatoes (I used canned)

PREPARATION:    
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 9" square or 10" x 8" pan with vegetable oil cooking spray.

Spread ½ the marinara sauce on the bottom of the pan. Cover with half of the uncooked noodles, spinach, tomatoes, and nut mixture. Repeat the layers again and transfer to oven. Bake for 50 minutes or until lightly browned.

So, what do you think? Sound good? Look good? Well me tell you this ... when I put the almonds, walnuts, onion, garlic, fresh basil, nutmeg, and water in my food processor, the scent was shocking! My eyes watered and when I tasted it I just knew I’d be feeding the trash can instead of my family. Following the instructions, I layered the ingredients and popped it in the oven. The aroma was amazing and when it was finished the taste was, too.

I’ll say this. EVEN MY ‘MEAT AND POTATOES’ HUSBAND LIKE IT!! Plus, my husband's co-worker who recently discovered he had high cholesterol, loved it, too! In fact, he was shocked the lasagna had no meat! His only concern (because he suffers with diverticulitis) was the use of nuts, which he is forbidden to eat. I assured my husband he could comfortably tell his co-worker that because the nuts were pulverized, he could eat them prepared this way. I also reminded him that drinking plenty of water was essential!

OK then ... let’s cut to the chase. Even though I made the recipe as instructed and it was delicious, there are a few tweaks my husband and I thought might make it even better. The recipe calls for uncooked lasagna noodles. My casserole offered several noodles that were just plain not cooked. Though I felt there was plenty of liquid, my husband and I decided it’d be better if I had cooked the pasta first. The only other thing I’d change is I’d add some mushrooms. Aside from that ... WONDERFUL! Truly an amazing dish!! Thanks, Bob Greene for thinking outside the box! Visit Bob Greene’s website HERE.