easy weeknight healthy and delicious lasagna

Oh, hello food blog! *

My mom brought by—and I do not exaggerate—5 or 6 pounds of swiss chard this weekend, not to mention our fridge is FULL of other fresh garden veggies (carrots, shallots, kale, collard greens, etc.). The chard wilts the fastest, though, so I needed to make a couple of recipes with it right away.

First up? A garden quiche with farm-raised eggs, home-grown shallots, and sauteed chard. It was wonderful but I don't have a photo to prove it. Then we put together a chard-based soup. Also delicious and unbelievably healthy.

But last night I threw together the easiest lasagna ever, jam-packed with healthy goodness. With a little planning (let's say I was putting together my game plan all day), my hands-on took only 15 minutes. And to top it off, I only used three dishes (cutting board, large pan, and the baking dish). And to top THAT off, this makes enough for delicious leftovers. In fact, it's just about lunchtime right now. . .

Weeknight Lasagna with Swiss Chard

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound swiss chard, coarsely chopped (stems and all)

about 1/4 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

1 package whole-wheat lasagna noodles

1 15-ounce package ricotta

8 ounces mozarella, grated

1 jar spaghetti sauce (recommended: Central Market Organics Mushroom Lover's sauce)

3 ounces parmesan, grated

Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly oil a 9x13 baking dish (or for a deeper lasagna, choose a 9x9 dish). Coarsely chop the chard. (See the photo above: it's very easy to chop leafy greens if you lay the leaves on top of one another, roll together tightly, and chop into 1-inch sections.) In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and heat for just a minute, until it smells too good in the kitchen to stand it. Throw in the chard, along with about 1/4 cup water, and cook until the greens are wilted and tender. Season along the way with a little salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, pour about 1/4 of the jar of sauce into your prepared baking dish. Place a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. Top with 1/3 of the ricotta, 1/3 of the mozarella, and 1/2 of the chard (drain it as you remove from the pan). Layer again with pasta, sauce, ricotta, mozarella, and chard. For the third and final layer, use the rest of the pasta, sauce, ricotta and mozarella. Top with the grated parmesan. Remember: if your casserole is a little messy, that is NOT a problem! See the photo above. My lasagna is not beautiful. But it was scrumptious.

Bake for about 35-45 minutes or until cheese is browned on top and noodles are tender.

*Suzanne, this one's for you! :)