Meatless Meals Review: Parmesan and Root Vegetable Lasagna

Earlier today, I posted my first Meatless Meal of 2010. I had found the recipe in Cooking Light magazine several months ago, and just got around to cooking it.

Well, we had the lasagna for dinner tonight.

It was SCRUMPTIOUS!

Now, I know for some, the idea of a Meatless Meal is intimidating. You think the same weird things I think: Tofu, Vegetarian Ground Beef and Soy. I think of these things, and immediately order a hamburger, because I am not yet ready to commit to eating "that stuff." (Note: I will say, though, that Hubby LOVES Tofu Pups hotdogs. I tried them once. They aren't half bad, especially served up on a bun with sauteed onions and green peppers with deli mustard).

But, the idea of Meatless Meals is to bring about change, one step at a time. Who knows, maybe some day I will be a tofu lovin' vegan (don't hold your breath). But right now, I am happy to eat meat, but I'm excited about trying to cut it out of my diet a few times a week (seriously - it was overwhelming to realize just how dependent we are on meat - every day, sometimes 3 times a day. That's a lot of meat!).

So, this lasagna was the perfect substitute.

First, you'd never really realize you weren't eating meat. The squash and sweet potato mixture is thick. And, since it is slightly sweet (sweet potato, cinnamon and nutmeg), you aren't really trying to pull off a regular lasagna. This is in a category all it's own. It was really dense, which filled me up fast. I also had 1/4 less parmesan cheese than the recipe called for. So, calling on my italian roots, I added 15 oz of fat free ricotta cheese (like I would with a regular lasagna) to make up for the loss.

I will say that this meal isn't "easy." If you read this blog at all, you know I'm ALL about easy meals. I'm really glad I roasted the squash/sweet potatoes/onions yesterday, because it really would take upwards of 1 hour of prep time tacked on TOP of 1 hour of cooking. Yikes. But, for an every-once-in-a-while meal, it's not so bad. I just needed Hubby to be on Little Chica duty (she doesn't yet understand the idea of "I don't eat unless Momma cooks").

Verdict: Whether you are vegetarian, a total carnivore, or something in between, I COMPLETELY recommend trying this recipe. It's great, utilizing in-season vegetables, and something really different than the "usual suspects."

If you try it out (TOTALLY DO IT!), let me know your thoughts!