Zucchini Lasagna

My family loves lasagna, but lets face it, when you're trying to fuel your body with whole foods, traditional lasagna leaves a lot to be desired.  So, we worked on substitutions and found this option.  It is very tasty and satisfying, even my picky eaters love it!

Zucchini Lasagna

3 Medium Zucchinis

1-1.25 lb ground turkey breast (sometimes I can even find some with Italian spices in it, I have been known to substitute chick peas or white beans for the ground turkey if I want a meatless meal)

1 Large Onion, chopped

1 tsp Garlic Powder

24 Oz Fat Free Cottage Cheese (you can use ricotta if you prefer)

1-24 oz jar of Marinara Sauce-with the least sodium you can find, or, better yet, make your own!

1 Cup Shredded Low Fat Mozzarella Cheese

¼ Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Peel zucchini (this step is unnecessary, I peel my zucchini because I’m trying not to draw attention to the fact that my children are eating vegetables, my life is much easier if they don’t notice that fact!).  Use a sharp knife or a mandolin slicer to slice zucchini the long way to make thin “noodles.”  Place zucchini noodles in a salt water bath (a large bowl of cool water and about ¼-1/2 cup of salt added) and let soak for about 30 minutes- if you are watching your salt intake then skip this step, it just draws some of the water out of the zucchini so that your lasagna is not quite as soupy.  Preheat oven to 350.  While zucchini is bathing, use a large non stick skillet and begin to brown the turkey meat.  Add onions and garlic powder (I puree the onions before I add them to the meat-again, dinner time goes smoother if the wee ones don’t know they’re eating veggies and I'm sneaky like that).  Cook meat mixture until browned.  Drain and rinse zucchini then use about half of zucchini to layer in the bottom of the dish, overlapping a little, just like you would regular lasagna noodles, so that the bottom of the dish is completely covered.  Next sprinkle half of the meat mixture over zucchini.  Spread half of the cottage cheese over meat and pour half of the marinara sauce over cottage cheese.  Repeat the layering, zucchini, meat, cottage cheese and marinara then top with mozzarella and Parmesan.  Cover and bake at 350 for 60-90 minutes, until zucchini is tender.  Keep in mind, this lasagna is quite soupy when it first comes out of the oven, as it cools it will thicken, though ours doesn't usually last until then!  When cut into 12 slices this is 185 calories, 7.1 grams of fat, 10.5 grams of carbohydrates and 19.9 grams of protein per serving*.

*I have done these calculations based on the specific brands of ingredients I used, individual results may vary.