Cheesy Zucchini Casserole

This lasagne-like casserole was originally born as way of using up things that I had sitting around in the fridge, but has come to be a house favorite.  First, I browned about half a pound of lean ground beef in a pan with salt and herbs, then set it aside to drain.  Next, I layered thinly sliced zucchini in the bottom of my pan and then covered it with the ground beef and a generous layer of tomato sauce.  On top of that, I put one more layer of zucchini slices, followed by more tomato sauce, followed by a layer of part-skim mozzarella cheese.  Then I just baked the whole thing at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until the cheese was brown and the filling bubbled.  I think that ground beef gets an undeservedly bad reputation…it’s full of nutrients, and if you choose a lean version and drain it well, it’s not all that high in fat.  But if you want, you could probably substitute ground turkey or even another layer of cheese instead of the beef.

You can use whatever pasta sauce you have on hand, but I used Newman’s Own Fire Roasted Tomato & Garlic pasta sauce–it tasted great and it was one of the only store bought pasta sauces I have ever seen that didn’t contain any added sugar!

I took a small helping and my husband happily demolished the rest.  To round out my meal, I had a quarter of a whole wheat pita (brushed with olive oil, garlic and herbs and then lightly toasted) and a bit of baby arugula dressed with lemon and olive oil.  I also had a bowl of pink grapefruit.

 

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