Well, it’s been a really long time since I last posted a recipe. I hope everyone reading this had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I definitely needed the break. I went on a little mini vacation with my two of my best friends to Vegas. It was absolutely fabulous. I even won some money! Yay for beginners luck, right? We were way too busy gambling, drinking, and eating Denny’s (an unreasonable amount of Denny’s actually…) to be cooking anything. Then of course there was Thanksgiving, but my mom, Em, and I didn’t really make anything particularly interesting. Just the usual Thanksgiving deliciousness. I did, however, make apple cider roasted potatoes and squash, which was a big hit.
Wednesday of this week I finally found myself back in the kitchen. My friend Frodo (no, that’s not his real name, but he really looks a lot like Elijah Wood) came over for dinner. We were really great friends while we were at Institute (TFA teacher training), but we’ve failed at hanging out ever since we’ve been teaching. Last time we saw each other at professional development we decided we definitely needed to hang out, which gave me a perfect excuse to try this recipe! My friend Daniel made this lasagna for my old roommate (his girlfriend at the time) last year. It was fantastic and I’ve been meaning to try it for myself. The original recipe comes from this blog, which looks like a fantastic site that I think I’m going to add to the blogs I keep an eye on.
The combination of black beans and spinach might seem a little weird at first. Trust me, you won’t question it when you’re eating this lasagna. Actually, you’ll probably stop questioning anything once the amazing smells from your oven hit you. The layers of beans and spinach/ricotta are really different, but they come together really well and compliment each other well in every bite. Katie and Frodo both really loved it. If you try it, please let me know what you think!
Ingredients (serves 6):
2 Eggs, beaten
15oz fat free ricotta cheese
2.5 cups fresh spinach, cut into long strips
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, rough chopped
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 (14oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 jar pasta sauce (tomato/basil us best)
1 tsp cumin
9 lasagna noodles (get the oven-ready ones, seriously, so much easier)
Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix together the first 5 ingredients and 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese and set aside.
3. Mash the beans a bit with a fork in a large bowl. Stir in pasta sauce and cumin. Spread 1/3 of bean mixture on bottom of a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
4. Layer 3 noodles, half of spinach mixture and 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese. Repeat the layers. Top with remaining noodles and remaining bean mixture and remaining Monterey Jack cheese.
5. Bake, covered for 1 hour. Garnish with chopped cilantro and freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you’d like.
Grocery Store Gourmet 