New Recipe Trials

I've been testing out a couple new recipes recently but haven't blogged about all of them. We recently tried

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi 
Cheesy Meat Loaf Minis
Spinach and Artichoke Baked Pasta
Light Vegetable Lasagna

My favorite of that bunch would def have to be the vegetable lasagna. It was delicious. I think I ate all the leftovers by myself for like 3 days straight.

The lemon pepper shrimp scampi was also really good (although I think we added a touch too much pepper in it). It was a really easy shrimp dish and I loved it served over the orzo versus a more traditional pasta. It was very light and so quick and easy to make. I'll def keep that one handy for a quick weeknight meal.

Yes, I made a different meatloaf other than my Mom's recipe. I wanted a change. The recipe called for making like 6 mini meat loaves, but I was lazy and made mine into one traditional sized loaf, however it seemed to fall apart, it didn't stay molded together nicely while it cooked, so the presentation wasn't great, but it still tasted really good. It had a lot of different condiments in it, including horseradish, while it tasted good and I didn't mind the horseradish, I don't think I loved it in there either. It was tasty though but I think I might play around and look for a different alternative meatloaf dish to Mom's if I was going to make another one.

We made the spinach and artichoke pasta for dinner tonight. It was very good but considering it was a Rachael Ray 30 minute meal it was really quite a process and made a huge mess and required lots of pots, it was not a simple recipe. I also decided to add chicken to it as well which didn't help any but it was a great add. I decided to poach the chicken breasts which I had never done before, it's pretty cool, considering you're just boiling chicken in water for like 20 minutes to cook it. It was a great add to the pasta. The pasta was def good and I liked the all the spinach in it and aside from the Gruyère cheese in it, it didn't seem too unhealthy either. I think I'd make it again.

So back to Vegetable Lasagna, this recipe I had to post to add to my collection. I cannot wait to make it again. Mike even gave me the idea of maybe adding some eggplant in it next time which I think I might try. This recipe seemed like such a great way to get extra veggies into a meal that tasted delicious and also lightened up what is usually such a fattening recipe.

Vegetable Lasagna
Source: Fitness Magazine

Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onion
21/2 cups zucchini, sliced - about 2 small zucchini
2 cups sliced fresh portobello mushrooms
1 cup fat-free ricotta
3 tablespoons finely shredded Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6 whole wheat no-boil lasagna noodles - I used 9 for a third layer
2 cups prepared pasta sauce
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella - I ended up using the whole bag
1/2 cup chopped, seeded tomato - I forgot to put this in

Directions
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, zucchini, and mushrooms; heat 5 minutes or until tender, stirring. Remove from heat; set aside. In a small bowl, mix the ricotta, Parmesan, and pepper.

To assemble, place 3 lasagna noodles in the bottom of a 2-quart rectangular baking dish. Spoon half the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Top with half the veggie mixture, half the pasta sauce, and half the mozzarella. Layer with remaining noodles, ricotta mixture, veggie mixture, and sauce.

Bake, uncovered, in a 375-degree oven for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with tomato and remaining mozzarella. Bake 5 minutes more or until heated through. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Cut into 6 pieces.