Veggie Lasagna

I found a version of this recipe in a Paleo cookbook. I don't generally use a lot of cook books, but this one I couldn't turn down. The headlines touted over 200 real food recipes, how could I go wrong? I was so disappointed when I saw that the majority of the recipes were loaded with tomatoes and garlic. How sad! There were a few that looked tempting, and this was one of them.

I'll be the first to admit I don't cook nearly as many vegetables as I probably should. I do cook with a lot of squash, primarily because it's a good substitute for noodles and tomato sauce. When I'm cooking I always think, "I wish I had a vegetable to go with this," but short of potatoes, I don't keep many of them in the refrigerator. My vegetable crisper is more like a vegetable musher, so my veggies go bad too quickly. Sad face.

The thing I loved about this recipe was not just that it was healthy (we're talking under 200 calories per serving here), but that it had so many veggies. Obviously I'm going to substitute squash for any type of pasta sauce, but feel free to use tomato sauce in place of the starred items below.

To get the zucchini slices uniform, I used a mandolin. Zucchini is soft enough that a cheese slicer would work, too. However you cut it, just be sure that they're thin (about 1/8 inch thick) and uniform.

This came out pretty watery and it was almost impossible to keep it in lasagna shape, but oh my goodness, so tasty! My oldest loved it, but my youngest couldn't get past the fact that it had mushrooms in it. Oh, well, can't please them all.

Ingredients:
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
Drizzle olive oil
1 lb ground turkey
4 cups cooked, cubed butternut squash*
1/2 roasted red bell pepper*
2 T. apple cider vinegar*
1 T. honey*
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 T. nutritional yeast 
Hot water
2 medium zucchini, sliced thinly lengthwise
8 large baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. 

Drizzle olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and pepper. Saute until they just start to caramelize. Add ground turkey, stir well, and cook until no longer pink.

While turkey is cooking, combine squash, roasted bell pepper, vinegar, honey, sage, oregano, basil, rosemary, salt, pepper and nutritional yeast in a blender. Add just enough hot water to get things moving, and puree until smooth. Check for taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

When turkey is fully cooked, pour sauce into skillet, stirring well to combine. Heat through.

Coat a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray. Coat bottom of dish with a small amount of sauce. Add a layer of zucchini and mushrooms, followed by half of the remaining sauce. Arrange another layer of zucchini and mushrooms, followed by the remaining sauce.

Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil, increase heat to 350 and bake 15-20 more minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Let stand a few minutes before serving.