Mexican Lasanga

This is one of my favorite 'Cinco de Mayo' recipes! Living in San Diego, we love to celebrate this holiday. The kids have celebrations at school where they sing songs, create art projects, and discuss history. School lunch included a special 'fiesta churro' today... yum! Michael, my 1st grader said his teacher gave them chips and salsa today... what a treat!

I love Mexican food because most recipes generally call for fresh ingredients, which in my mind equals good healthy food for my family! This is one of those recipe's that my mom clipped out of a newspaper long ago, made it, loved it, then passed it onto me!

...MEXICAN LASAGNA...

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
1 can diced tomatoes 16 oz
10 to 12 corn tortillas
2 cup small cottage cheese, drained
1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese with peppers
1 egg
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded lettuce
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
3 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup sliced black olives
Avocado
Cilantro

Brown ground beef; drain thoroughly. Add cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, red pepper, salt, pepper, and tomatoes; heat through. Pour half the beef mixture in bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish. Then mix the cottage cheese, Monterey Jack cheese and egg together, put half of the mixture over the meat; then layer with tortillas and cover as completely as possible. Repeat layers. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. After taking out of oven, spread top of casserole with sour cream. Then make rows of cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, and green onions across the casserole in a diagonal pattern. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Here is what Wikipedia says about Cinco de Mayo:
Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "fifth of May") is a regional holiday in Mexico, primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico. The holiday commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín. The outnumbered Mexicans defeated a much better-equipped French army that had not been defeated in almost 50 years.

Cinco de Mayo is not "an obligatory federal holiday" in Mexico, but rather a holiday that can be observed voluntarily.

While Cinco de Mayo has limited significance nationwide in Mexico, the date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. A common misconception in the United States is that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day, which actually is September 16 (dieciséis de septiembre in Spanish),the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico.

Vegetable Lasagna

The spinach leaves are just screaming "I'm so good for you"...

Light and Luscious Lasagna

Sauce: 1 bottle of your favorite spaghetti sauce

1/4 tsp. Olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

5 oz. extra lean ground turkey breast

2 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar

Filling:

2 cups fat-free cottage cheese

2 egg whites

1/4 tsp. Nutmeg salt and pepper to taste

3 cups shredded zucchini

1 cup shredded low fat mozzarella cheese

12 pieces lasagna pasta (I like Hodgson Mill whole wheat Lasagna), cooked

12-14 fresh basil leaves

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 cup fresh spinach leaves

2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan, heat olive oil and cook onion until soft, then add garlic. Add ground turkey and cook until browned. Add spaghetti sauce and vinegar, heat for about a minute and set aside. In a separate bowl mix together cottage cheese, egg whites, nutmeg and pepper: set aside. In another bowl mix together zucchini and mozzarella cheese and set aside. In the bottom of a 9x13in pan, evenly spread 1 cup of spaghetti sauce. Place 3 pieces of pasta on the sauce without overlapping. Now build your lasagna layers starting with ½ cup of your cottage cheese mixture. Next comes all of your basil leaves followed by your mushrooms and 1 cup of the sauce mixture. Now add 3 more noodles, 1 cup zucchini mixture, and spread your spinach over the top evenly. Add ½ cup cottage cheese mixture and three more noodles. Add remaining sauce, zucchini mixture and top with the Parmesan cheese. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake 35 minutes: uncover and cook another 20 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand10-15 minutes before serving.

Contributed by Becki Cutler

Best Ever Lasagna

This is perfection! Truly the best ever lasagna recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage
6 ounces lean ground beef
1/4 cup minced onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 (6.5 ounce) can canned tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon white sugar
3/4 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
6 lasagna noodles
1/2 pound ricotta cheese
1/2 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

This recipe's Ingredients were scaled to yield a new amount. The directions below still refer to the original recipe yield of 6 servings.
In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving. 6 servings.



Submitted by Michelle Olsen, who uses tomatoes freshly picked from her garden for the tomato sauce.