Bliss Events by Rachel: {Recipes} Garden-Style Lasagna

When having friends or family over for dinner, our biggest challenge has been finding meals that both vegetarians and meat-lovers can enjoy. Anytime we find something that fits the bill PLUS is super simple, tasty and pretty on a plate...rest assured, I'll be sharing! Starting with...

Garden-Style Lasagna

This is a fun dish to serve family-style...very tasty, very colorful and pretty simple!

Thanks to Cooking Light for the fabulous recipe! Enjoy!

Ingredients

Cooking spray

2 onions, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons olive oil, divided

1 zucchini, chopped

1 yellow squash, chopped

4 carrots, chopped

1 head of broccoli, chopped

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 1/2 cups milk

1 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided

1 (10 oz) package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Pre-cooked lasagna noodles

Dashes of nutmeg, salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

Preheat your oven to 375°.

Now, coat your pan with a little cooking spray and saute your onion. Once lightly browned, add your garlic to the party. After about a minute, move your "onion mixture" to a large bowl and set aside.

Next, heat 1 teaspoon of your olive oil over medium-high heat then add your zucchini and yellow squash. Let them saute until tender and then add to your "onion mixture".

Heat another teaspoon of olive oil over medium-high heat then add your carrots and broccoli. Once they are tender, toss them in your "onion mixture" with a little salt.

So your beautiful veggie mixture will be all colorful and yummy smelling!

Now, in a medium saucepan, toss your flour and gradually add your milk. Stir with a whisk until nicely blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and add 1/2 cup of your Parmesan cheese, your dashes of salt, pepper and nutmeg and your spinach. Stir until smooth.

In a separate bowl, combine your cottage cheese and 1 1/2 cups of your mozzarella cheese. Make sure to stir well!

Now, let the fun begin! Spread about 1/2 cup of your spinach mixture in the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish then arrange some of your lasagna noodles on top. You will notice that I didn't use a 13 x 9 baking dish...take note that I wish I would have! It will just make it all a little easier to layer!

Layer half of your cottage cheese mixture and half of your veggie mixture with 1 cup of your spinach mixture next.

Cover with more lasagna noodles and repeat, ending with noodles. Then spread the remaining spinach mixture over the noodles and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese and the last 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.