Healthy Zucchini "Lasagna"

Living alone, I often try to rely on simple but healthy things like soup and salad for my basic diet, especially when I have to take meals to work for 12 hour shifts. Every now and then I just need to change it up a bit, but still like to keep it healthy. I'd rather reserve all the splurging for happy hour tasting. :) One of the recipes I've come up with that works perfect for work meals or just for satisfying that craving for comfort food, is what I call Zucchini Lasagna. I just put together an assortment of the veggies and flavors I like and have on hand, so there is always room for tweaking. The amounts are not, nor do they need to be exact, so if you opt to try this one out, get creative!

Healthy Zucchini Lasagna

2 small zucchini
1/2 of a red pepper cut in strips and then halved
3-5 mushrooms (depending on size) or canned if all that's on hand, sliced
Handful of fresh baby spinach leaves
Small bunch of fresh basil chopped
Cooking spray
Marinara sauce of your choice
Ricotta cheese (low fat or fat free if you choose)
Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
Mozzarella cheese for sprinkling
Fresh ground pepper
Dried oregano (optional)
Garlic powder (optional)

Makes 2-3 servings, so increase amounts as needed for more.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a small casserole pan with nonstick cooking spray (I have one that's close to 5x9...odd size but perfect for me and a great find at the dollar store!) . Take the cleaned zucchini and slice lengthwise. I use a cheese slicer for this, but a mandolin would work even better if you have one.

Put a small amount of marinara sauce in the bottom of the dish to coat and then lay the strips of zucchini to cover the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle lightly with garlic powder, oregano, black pepper and Parmesan. Take the ricotta and place several dollops to evenly cover the zucchini. Depending on the type of ricotta, it may be too thick to spread, but that's fine. Evenly place the red peppers and mushrooms over the ricotta and then sprinkle with mozzarella and basil. Lay the spinach over this and top with a layer of sauce. Repeat layers of zucchini with seasonings, followed by ricotta, ending with the peppers, mushrooms and basil.

Top this with more sauce to cover and then mozzarella and Parmesan.

Bake approximately 30 minutes.

It will be waterier than a typical lasagna because of all the fresh veggies, but tastes great! Another variation I've tried is oven roasting the zucchini, peppers and mushrooms before compiling the lasagna, also very tasty!