Easy weeknight meal here we come!
This summer has been a whirl wind of adventures! Just checked my odometer reading in the ol Hylander and we have driven over 6,000 miles since June! All that road tripping brought us up and down Cali, Oregon, Washington, and Canada. Made some wonderful memories with the fam, and got inspired by some pretty amazing restaurants and sights along the way. Now it’s time to get back to RTO. Full speed ahead!
Oh, and this other magical thing happened a couple weeks ago that I just have to share with you. Meg Meg, my loyal kitchen companion, had her puppies! Eleven little brown bears in total; 5 boys and 6 sweet little girls. Kaly pulled and all nighter with me when they were born, and helped deliver each one! We are in love with them all, but one special girl might have to stay on to help Meg Meg with her kitchen duties. Puppy fanatics see more here!
Since running around like a headless chicken is basically the norm for me right now, I have gotten creative with the weeknight family meals. Hitting up the grocery store with my two crazy boys has been a horrifying experience recently (the big one wants everything and the little one does this ear piercing screech every 3 minutes), so this Weeknight Quinoa Lasagna was whipped up with my random pantry items and cheeses on hand. I snuck in some veggies, left out the meat (daddy was working OT all week, because California is burning down) and the little dudes gobbled it up, mom got her vegetable on, and there was still time to snuggle the puppies before bed. Yes, win win win!
Added bonus it was in the oven in under 30 min!
Step one: prep the vegetables and scope out your cheese stash to see what you can throw in.
Take note of that one big tomato amongst the store bought minis. He was the only worthwhile beauty that my wanna be plants have produced all summer! Gardening, you shall be mine one day..
Step two: Mix cooked quinoa with a little sauce, a cup of ricotta, an egg, and season with salt and pepper. Use whatever tomato sauce you have! Mine was just a large can of tomato puree with a few dried spices and a splash of honey added and it worked great.
Step three: Oil an eight-inch pan, and begin layering like you would with normal lasagna. I start with a cup of sauce, half the quinoa, more sauce, half the vegetables and a couple handfuls of mozzarella (I keep a large bag of shredded mozzarella in the freezer for quick meals!). Repeat until everything is used up! Don’t stress on the order, just do what feels right. If you have some other summer veggies laying around, say, a spare eggplant or a zucchini, toss those bad boys in too!
Bake in 400-degree oven for about 30 minutes, and then broil at the end to brown the top a bit.
To serve: lightly toss some greens with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place warmed lasagna on top of greens and hit it with a little quality balsamic vinegar and fresh basil and dig in!
Collin got tired of me taking pictures, and snuck his little hand in there for a taste.
- 2.5 cups tomato sauce or a 28 ounce can crushed tomato seasoned to taste
- 3 cups cooked quinoa
- 3 cups mozerella
- 6 baby sweet peppers sliced
- 1 large tomato sliced
- 1 handful or so grape tomatoes halved (or just whatever you have!)
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- olive oil
- basil and quality balsamic for garnishing
- 5 cups greens (1 cup in lasagna the rest for the plates)
- Preheat oven to 400 degres. Grease 8X8 inch pan with olive oil.
- Combine quinoa, egg, ricotta, and a half cup of tomato sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle half of remaining sauce in the bottom of pan, followed by half the quinoa mixture, a handful of mozerella cheese, a big handful of greens, a half the peppers, half the tomatoes and more cheese.
- Cover with remaining quinoa by smoothing it around with a spatula or spoon. Top quinoa layer with remaining sauce,vegetables and mozerella.
- Bake for approx 30 minutes until bubbly, and then broil for 3-5 minutes to brown it up a bit.
- To serve, toss a handful of greens in olive oil and salt and pepper on plate, scoop warm lasagna onto greens. Garnish with fresh basil and a balsamic. Dig In!
Looks delicious. Need to make this.
Very tasty! I am thinking Jake will even be a fan, and possibly grandpa. Mmmm I will for sure be making this soon!
Wow, I just ate but this makes me really hungry. I need to make this soon!
Try it! I got to sample, and it didn’t disappoint!
I meant wow*** not no, oops!