Vegetable Lasagna: White and Light

I completely enjoy my homemade turkey lasagna with classic tomato sauce, but I figured I would mix it up a bit and make vegetable lasagna with a white sauce. I found the original recipe by Recipe Girl and loved the fact that it was full of so many fresh summer veggies. I altered the recipe a bit in order to give it a healthy twist. The sauce was light and provided just enough flavor to let the vegetables star in the creamy dish. While there was a good amount of prep work involved, in my opinion, it was absolutely worth it. It was a great summer entree paired with a fresh garden salad.

Vegetable Lasagna
adapted from Recipe Girl
serves 9

Ingredients

2 cups chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped zucchini
2 cups chopped yellow squash
2 cups thinly sliced carrots
2 cups chopped broccoli
1 tsp salt, divided
1/2 cup flour
3 1/2 cups fat-free milk
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
dash of nutmeg
10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 1/2 cups fat-free cottage cheese
2 cups fat-free shredded mozzarella cheese
9 whole-wheat lasagna noodles

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Spray with cooking spray. Add onion and saute for 4 minutes or until tender; add garlic and saute for another minute. Spoon onion mixture into a large bowl.
3. Spray the skillet again with cooking spray and add zucchini and squash. saute for 4 minutes or until tender. Add to onion mixture.
4. Spray the skillet again with cooking spray. Add carrots and saute for 4 minutes; add broccoli and saute for another 4 minutes until tender crisp. Add to onion mixture and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt. Stir well to combine.
5. Place flour in a medium sauce pan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly; cook 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup parmesan, remaining 1/2 tsp salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir until smooth blend in spinach.
6. In a medium size bowl, combine cottage cheese and 1 1/2 cups mozzarella; stir well.
7. Spray a lasagna pan (or 9x13 baking dish) with cooking spray. Spread 1/2 cup spinach mixture on bottom of pan. Arrange 3 noodles over spinach mixture; top with half cottage cheese mixture, then half vegetable mixture, and about 1 cup spinach mixture. Repeat layers ending with noodles. Spread remaining spinach mixture on top of noodles; sprinkle with 1/2 cup parmesan and 1/2 cup mozzarella. 
8. Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition: 289 calories, 40g carbohydrate, 25g protein, 5g fat, 7g fiber

Weight Watchers points: 5

Weight Watchers plus points: 8