Veggilicious

Tonight's dinner consisted primarily of leftover veggies from last night's fondue. In an attempt to be creative, I whipped up some vegetable lasagna with a side of roasted asparagus in a homemade vinaigrette. Despite my lasagna fears, everything turned out pretty well.

I started out by sauteeing minced garlic in extra virgin olive oil (cold pressed, of course, Mr. Wilson) for about one minute, in my beautiful new Emeril cookware, courtesy of Josh and Edith.

Then I added one medium onion, diced, and continued to sautee. Once the onions started to turn clear, I added sliced white mushrooms (about 6oz give or take), chopped broccoli, and chopped celery.

After about 10 minutes of sauteeing, the vegetables had started to soften, and I added a jar of supermarket spaghetti sauce (Roasted Garlic is what I had on hand) and laid about two handfuls of baby spinach leaves on top. I reduced the heat to simmer and let it stand for a good 20 minutes. This became my "sauce" for the lasagna.

In the meantime, I prepared my lasagna noodles and the ricotta-mozarella cheese mixture (one small container of ricotta, and about 3/4 cup of mozarella), including some of the leftover "veggie cheese" we had in the fridge.

After getting my lasagna pan all greased up, I began the layers: sauce, noodles, cheese. Repeat. I then baked at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

The asparagus was easy, too. After trimming the woody ends of the asparagus, I placed them in a baking dish and tossed with olive oil. I then seasoned with salt and pepper, and placed them in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the vinaigrette dressing:

1/3 c. olive oil
1/3 c. red wine vinegar
2 T. sugar
1 T. spicy brown mustard
1 T. low-sodium soy sauce
1 clove of garlic, minced
Pinch of thyme, oregano, basil, salt, pepper

I combined the above ingredients in a jar and shook until combined. Quick and easy, and delicious - especially when topping roasted asparagus.

Oh don't worry...there were other kitchen projects tonight....