The Recipe Victim

Happy Wednesday yall!  Suzanne was out of town again this Monday and Tuesday, so we are being victimized tonight...

First things first - our first giveaway!  We put everyone's names in a bowl that commented (either here or on facebook) and the winner of the one year subscription of Cooking Light magazine is..... CYN!!!  Congratulations Cyn - shoot us a message at suzanneroan@aol.com with your address and we will get you all set up!

April  made the lasagna this morning, so all we had to do tonight was put together the salad and make some delicious garlic toast.

Slow Cooker Lasagna
from the WeightWatchers Website

1 pound uncooked lean ground beef (with 7% fat)

1 small onion, chopped
1 medium garlic clove, minced
28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
15 oz canned tomato sauce
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded, divided
6 dry lasagna noodles, no-cook
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, strong-flavored like Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef, onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon as it cooks, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, oregano, basil and red pepper flakes; simmer 5 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together ricotta cheese and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.

Spoon 1/3 of beef mixture into a 5-quart slow cooker. Break 3 lasagna sheets in half and arrange over beef mixture; top with half of ricotta mixture. Repeat with another layer and finish with remaining 1/3 of beef mixture.

Cover slow cooker and cook on low setting for 4 to 6 hours. Remove cover; turn off heat and season to taste, if desired.

In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese; sprinkle over beef mixture. Cover and set aside until cheese melts and lasagna firms up, about 10 minutes. Yields 1/6th of dish per serving, 8 Points each.

Suz: Soooo delicious.  I've never had the no-cook lasagna noodles before.  They almost melted into the dish, which sounds weird but was really good.  Amazing comfort food!

April: It was a lot of fun to make. We don't normally use beef but we went for it this time. I didn't have tomato sauce so I had to use paste instead and added 12 oz of water to try to make up for it. The flavor of the sauce was soooo yummy. I think I would use it again outside of this dish... very tasty. It was pretty easy to make and it cooked a lot faster than I thought. WORTH your time... totally.
 

Suzanne's Chopped Salad

 

1 bag shredded iceburg lettuce

1/2 pint grape tomatoes, quartered

1/2 english cucumber, finely diced

1/2 cup red onion, finely diced

3 tablespoons bacon bits
1/3 cup blue cheese vinaigrette (from the produce section)

 

Combine in a bowl.  Right before serving, toss with salad dressing.  Serves 4-6 people, about 3 points each.

 

Suz: I had a similar salad to this at the Cheesecake Factory, although I am certain it had a whole heck of a lot more calories and fat.  Easy to throw together, and would be really good with grilled chicken on top.

 

April: YUM YUM YUM... nice blend of texture and taste... very good!
 

We've got some ideas for our next giveaway, which will be coming in the next couple of weeks, so keep checking back to see what we're up to!  Have a great Halloween this weekend and don't eat too much candy! ;)



...and after!  I think she likes it!



Maggie before lasagna...