Cabbage Lasagna???

I have to admit when my mother told me she'd read somewhere a suggestion to substitute cabbage for lasagna I was skeptical, but now that I've tried it, I quite like it. Interesting indeed! A note on bottled marinara sauce. I used it in this recipe, but I watched the calorie count. It was totally eye opening to compare. The calories ranged anywhere from 60 calories per serving to 140 calories per serving. The 140 calorie stuff had a lot of added unnecessary fat and fillers. A goal ought to be to keep food as close to natural as possible!

Cabbage Lasagna

10 servings
324 calories per serving, 132 calories from fat

• 1 medium onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 5 medium carrots shredded
• 7 (3.5 oz) servings boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 jar Newman's own marinara
• 2 cups low fat ricotta
• 2 1/2 cups part skim shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 c shredded Parmesan
• 2 large egg
• 1/2 head large cabbage cut in 1/4 or 1/2 inch slices

A quick and easy way to make your own ground chicken is to pulse it in your food processor. That's what I did here, I placed a few breasts in the food processor at a time, and pulsed until it looked the consistency I wanted. You could just as easily used ground turkey, or, if you are lucky enough to find it, pre-ground chicken breasts.

As always, spray your pan with your favorite non stick spray, add the onion and garlic and saute until the onion is translucent, add the chicken and carrots. Cook until chicken is done, and liquid released from the carrots has cooked off. Add the jar of marinara stir to combine and remove from heat.

combine the cheeses all but 1/2 cup of the mozzarella with the eggs, stir to combine well.

Layer together like you would lasagna, only using the cabbage in place of the noodles. I used a 9"x13" pan and start with the meat mixture, then cabbage, then cheese. I repeat this one more time and end with a good layer of meat on top. Cover with foil and bake in 375 degree oven for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella. bake until cheese is melted.

I did some searching on lasagna calories the average according to calorie king is 408. Just as a reference. Olive Garden lasagna 850 calories per serving, Old Spaghetti Factory 800 calories, Pizza Hut 600 calories, Stouffer's 350 calories.