Finally, success in the kitchen!

May's InStyle magazine had a recipe for Vegetable Lasagne Roll-Ups [with Vegan Alternative] from a Lea Michele & Edith Sarfati. It looked interesting and so last night, I played with it, and was successful!

First of all, let me explain what I mean by "successful". The final product was something that both I and the cutie liked enough to make it again. Because we both like different foods, trust me when I say this doesn't happen often. So, here are the details of what I made:

Ingredients
Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles
Broccoli
Carrots
Extra Firm Tofu [cubed]
Oregano
Basil
Shredded Italian Three Cheese [provolone, mozzarella, and parmesan]
Tomato and Basil Sauce

Instructions
• Preheat oven to 350
• In a skillet, heat olive oil and sauté chopped broccoli and carrots until soft, put in bowl and add spices to taste, and cool.
• Cook 6 noodles, drain, and lay flat on cooling rack.
• Add tofu and cheese to cooled veggies and gently stir together.
• Place a noodle on a firm surface and spoon mixture down the center, leaving an inch free at either end, and don't put so much it spills over the edges. Roll tightly and place in a 8" baking dish.
• Pour some sauce over the top and cook for 45 minutes.
• Take out, pour rest of sauce over the top, add more cheese, and back for an additional 15 minutes.

What I did wasn't that different from the original recipe, but it was tasty, and I don't normally eat tomatoes. Now, what I'll do differently next time is to add more cheese into the mix and play with the veggies. Broccoli and carrots were nice, but could be a place to experiment. I'd also sauté the tofu with the veggies - just give them a little more flavor, although they were pretty tasty. The last thing I'd do is seek out some ricotta cheese to include in the mix. When shopping for this meal, I did set out to go healthy, so the cheese [low milk fat and no lactose] and sauce [low sodium] I chose were just that – which isn’t easy, so look hard.

I served it with lightly steamed summer squash and sprinkled with a little parmesan. I ate one roll up, the cutie had two, and is having one and a half for lunch today and tomorrow. Personally, I'm all for getting three meals sorted from about 20-30 minutes of work.

There you go - a tasty yet healthy dish that took no time or skill to make.