Zucchini Lasagna with Mushrooms

I didn't wake up this morning wondering how I could contribute further to the destruction of authentic Italian cuisine, I swear, but opportunities can't be wasted. I was asked to whip up a batch of healthy(er) lasagna using zoodles instead of pasta (because we have a buttload of zucchini from the garden). I remembered this absolutely amazing lasagna recipe I made from Bon Appetit—and yes, it used both real noodles and burrata, believe it or not. So I combined the recipe with zoodles, made a few substitutions to make it as easy on me as possible, and voila!

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 

Step 2

2. Cut 1 large zucchini into thin slices using a mandolin, thus so (see picture). Don't do it by hand. It's practically impossible to attain perfect, thin slices when cutting them by hand. Just accept this and move on.

Step 3

3. Sauté two 16-ounce packages of pre-sliced mushrooms in some olive oil at medium-high heat. The trick is to not cook them too long. You still want them to be meaty on the inside while being golden-brown on the outside. I actually found that baby bellas are the best mushrooms with which to do those, although button mushrooms will work in a pinch. And yes, you'll need 32 ounces of mushrooms. This is a meatless lasagna—did I forget to mention this?—and the mushrooms really give it substance. Plus, sauteed mushrooms are to die for.

4. Whisk together about 20 ounces (or more for extra cheesiness!) of part-skim ricotta cheese and 1/4 cup of 2 percent milk (or whole milk or heavy cream).

5. Now, for the fun part: Spread a little of the ricotta mixture in the bottom of a 9x13-inch casserole dish, and add a layer of the zoodles. 

Steps 5-7

6. Top the zoodles with more of the ricotta mixture followed by 1/3 of the mushrooms, a handful of mozzarella cheese, a sprinkle Parmesan cheese, and a couple of shakes of Italian seasoning (or, in my case, a couple of shakes of basil, followed by oregano followed by marjoram because I had no Italian seasoning—who doesn't have Italian seasoning?).

7. Add salt and pepper to taste, and repeat the process, finishing with the seasoning.

8. Finally, throw that baby into the oven, and cook it for about an hour. Enjoy the sweet, sweet creamy, mushroomy taste. It's so good.

Finished product (I already started cutting it before I realized I'd forgotten to take a picture—that's how good it looked)

Time: What to Eat Now

Like most human beings, I'm interested in food. Who's not? But I'm even more interested in healthy delicious food. No, the two aren't mutually exclusive. In fact, Time magazine's What to Eat Now focuses on food that is both delicious and healthy.

This 112-page book is separated into three section: the kitchen, the body, and the field and factory. My favorite is the kitchen section, because it focuses on healthy foods and recipes, like how to add flavor to your food without adding fat and calories or great substitutions to make to cut down on fat and sugar. It even introduces new and interesting spices like miso and lemongrass. What is this, you ask? Well, you'll find out! I'm anxious to use miso in a recipe someday.

An interesting article is "31 Healthiest Foods of All Time" (p42). Luckily, the entire article is on the Times.com website. But I'll give you a taste—no pun intended—of some of the items: dark chocolate, black beans, tuna, broccoli, spinach, skim milk, apples, almonds and fat-free Greek yogurt. Eat up! Get the book to at least peruse the "Use This, Not That" article, a great reference for substituting ingredients for healthier options.

As an experiment, I made one of the recipes, Spicy Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (which you can find on My Recipes or by following the link. FYI, it called for lemongrass, which is this herb that comes in thick stalks that resembles green onions, but are stiff and yellow. You put the lemon grass into the soup at the beginning and let it soak into the liquid until it's time to serve, and then you take it out. It has a nice, citrusy flavor.

Anyway, the soup turned out awesome! I served it to several people and received glowing reviews.