Vegetable Lasagna

I have always loved Stouffers's Vegetable Lasagna. I have tried other brands when I didn't find this, but nothing compares to this. Sadly, I don't find it in the grocery store whenever I look for it. So I had to find a recipe to make it and I found one sometime back. It has been lying on my Kitchen shelf for some days now. I finally gave it a try yesterday. It turned out very well. I did make a few changes to it based on my taste buds.

Preparation Time: 30 min
Cooking Time: 40-45 min
Serves: 6-8

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Ingredients: about 5 cups White Sauce      3 tblsp Butter      1 cup All purpose flour      6 cups milk 1/2 tsp Garlic powder 8 lasagna noodles, cooked 8 oz Cottage Cheese 16 oz Ricotta cheese 1 cup mozarella cheese 1 cup Parmesan Cheese 1 small bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed 1 Green pepper, chopped 1 Red pepper, chopped 2 Broccoli heads, chopped 2 carrots, sliced in circles 1 large Onion, chopped 2 tblsp minced Garlic 1/2 cup bread crumbs salt and pepper to taste 1 tsp basil 1 tsp oregano 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper 1 tsp Olive Oil

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Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Prepare white sauce. Towards the end, add spinach, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix and keep aside.
3. Stir fry the vegetables in a little oil. Add parmesan cheese, basil, oregano, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Keep aside.
4. Mix cottage and Ricotta cheeses in a bowl. Keep aside.
5. Spread 1 1/2 cup white sauce mixture in a 9 X 13 baking pan.
6. Layer noodles, ricotta mixture, veggies, 1 1/2 cup white sauce mixture and mozzarella cheese, ending with noodles.
7. Top with left over white sauce mixture.
8. Spread bread crumbs on top.
9. Bake uncovered for about 40-45 min till the top starts to brown a little. Cool for about 10 min before serving.

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Tips Try various veggies like zucchini, asparagus, mushrooms based on your taste buds. Increase or decrease spices based on taste. Increase or decrease cheese based on choice.

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Cheesy Creamy Pasta Sauce

I am always on a hunt to find things that can be made quickly plus something that would appease my daugters. My older one is a picky eater. Well she loved this .... maybe because I didn't add any veggies to it or maybe because show likes cheesy stuff....Whatever.... I got another recipe that can be packed for school lunch.

Preparation Time: 0
Cooking Time: 5-10 min
Serves: 3-4

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Ingredients: 2 tblsp butter 1 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup parmesan cheese 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese 2 tsp dried basil 4 cloves garlic flakes, minced salt and pepper to taste

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Method:

1. Heat butter in a non-stick pan.
2. Add garlic, cheeses and basil to blend well. Keep stirring.
3. Add cream, salt and pepper and blend well.
4. Toss over your favorite pasta.

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Mooli ki besan ki sabzi

I like this version of mooli(white radish) but my husband in general doesn't like mooli. So I have never made it. Now I had a mooli in my fridge and I didn't want to make mooli ke parantha as always, so I made this yesterday and wow!!!! I once again remembered how yum this tasted when my mom made it.

Preparation Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 15-20 min
Serves: 2-3

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Ingredients: 1-2 mooli, grated 1 pinch hing 1 tsp jeera 1/4 tsp haldi/turmeric 1 tsp amchur/mango powder 2 tblsp oil 2 tsp ghee 2 tblsp besan/gram flour salt to taste

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Method:

1. Roast besan in ghee till light brown. Keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a frypan and add hing and jeera. Let it splutter. Add haldi and amchur.
3. Add the grated mooli and let it cook till all the water evaporates and mooli looks dry.
4. Add roasted besan and fry 3-4 min. Done!!!

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