What Do You Mean He Don't Eat No Meat?!

That is the question I normally hear when I let someone know that Sparky is a Vegetarian. The second question that soon follows is, "So, what does he eat?" or "So, what you guys eat?"

Easy.

Anything, but meat.

Ok. That's the smarty pants sassy answer. I actually don't say that because it is slightly more complicated than that; yet still pretty simple...again, I am a walking contradiction most times. Anyway, Sparky and I find a lot to eat especially since I have never seen someone eat as much as Sparky can and wants to eat...and no, he is no where near fat.

So, since it seems that people are curious as to what Sparky and I eat, I am going to try to post some of my recipe adventures. I know. Scary. Everyone here should know that my cooking skills are quite lacking and I am sure my mother and father are laughing in their recliners right now. But, lately, it seems that the pots and pans are on my side. And more surprisingly, the picky vegetarian seems to really love my cooking. I know there must be something wrong with him.

This little concoction was made a few weeks ago and it turned out super dee-lish. We ate it for a few days and I normally do not eat leftovers. Ew.

But, this Vegetarian Lasagna came about from a shopping mistake. Don't you just love those? I loves me some mistakes gone great. Sparky and I purchased some cottage cheese and were trying something new. Long story short, Sparky and I read every label when we grocery shop. Our strategy: The fewer ingredients the better; if you can't read it then you probably shouldn't eat it; Organic is always great; local is so much cooler; and you can't beat wheat. I know. I'm so cheezy. Anyway, this new all natural cottage cheese only had 3 ingredients and was from a small farm even though it was in Nebraska or something like that. Yay! So we were willing to give it a shot. Low and behold, through all our reading and analyzing, we failed to see that it said, "Dry Curd"...can you say EWWWWW? We may like some natural and organic food, but we still like stuff that taste good too...and dry curd cottage cheese is not in that category for us.

So, we already bought the dry curd and had it at home before we realized what we had done. The thought did cross my mind to try to return it because I just might be that frugal...but instead I figured out I could swap it out with Ricotta Cheese. So, Vegetarian Lasagna is what we got.

All the ingredients. Aren't they pretty?

1 batch of fresh spinach or a bag of spinach
12 oz. dry curd cottage cheese (or 1 lb. ricotta cheese)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
lemon zest
1 jar tomato or marinara sauce of your choice
9 lasagna noodles (or more if you prefer)
salt
1 lb grated mozzarella



Clean your spinach.


Wilt the spinach. And don't be ashamed if you need to google "wilt spinach"...not cause I had to or anything like that to figure out exactly how to go about doing the wilting...


The Dry Curd Culprit that started it all.


Dry Curd Culprit out of the tub. I know. It so does not look appetizing at this point. Trust me and keep reading.


Boil your you can't beat wheat lasagna pasta noodles...unless you get the fancy No-Boil Noodles.


Chop up the onions and garlic and go cry in a corner about how stinky your fingers are while you let the two simmer in a skillet.


Mix together in a bowl the wilted and cooled spinach, the dry curd culprit, and nutmeg. Then beat in the eggs.


Mix your sauce in with the garlic and onion and let it simmer together. Add the lemon zest.


I didn't really know what to do with the noodles after they were boiled and before I was ready to start layering. So I ended up just letting them dry and cool on foil. I am pretty sure you might know something better to do at this stage. Go for it. But this worked too.


Line your noodles in your dish. I would spray a non-stick spray or oil on the dish first...just in case. I actually forgot to do this and panicked while it was cooking.


Layer the sauce mixture on top of the noodles.


Layer the Spinach-Dry Curd Culprit-Egg mixture on top of the sauce and sprinkle (save most of it for the very top) your choice of additional cheese. I'm using Mozzarella. Then start over with the noodles and repeat the layering process a couple more times. I think I got total of three layers in this dish.


Layer the remaining cheese on the very top and bake in the oven at 375F for about 15-20 min or until cheese it nice and melty.


Voila! Super Uber Vegetarian Yummy-Ness!


His and Hers Veggie Lasagna


And if you are like Sparky and enjoy Ranch dressing on just about everything, go ahead and drizzle a little on the top of this little veggie lasagna.


So, this is one meal for this vegetarian household although I'm not vegetarian. I just like healhier versions of everything and this version was a winner.

Please note that I did not add Ranch dressing to mine and it was still dee-lish.

Keep on Keepin on.