Lasagna Roll-ups

It seems I have been way too busy enjoying summer this week to cook or, you know, sleep. I'm tired but happy and waiting for the tomatoes to rippen. In the meantime, enjoy what looks to be my friend Maria's best effort to date--vegetarian lasagna.

There are so many things I love about Kroger (a grocery store you may or may not have in your town). The one I go to in Bloomington, Ind., was recently upgraded, so to speak. It's amazing. It's huge, they have great deals, it feels really clean and new. Their olive bar is amazing. Love it! Every month they send a coupon bookfull of recipes or household tips. This last one was perfect,"Budget-friendly vegetarian possibilities." One of the subheadings is"pack more protein into meatless meals." Seriously, just what I need. Within a week I made two meals from the book.

Growing up we ate lasagna fairly often at my dad's house. It was either pizza, lasagna, spaghetti, spaghetti pie or chicken friedrice. (Which one doesn't fit with the others?) I've only made lasagna once, despite my mom's insistence that it's a great meal to freeze and eat later. This recipe looked easy and the pictures were"cute." Yep, I pick my food based on a cuteness scale.

Vegetable Lasagna Roll-Ups: 6 whole wheat lasagna noodles, cooked al dente and drained 1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese 1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided in half 2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese 1 egg white, slightly beaten 1 tsp dried parsley 1/2 tsp dried basil freshly cracked pepper, to taste 1 1/2 tsp olive oil 2 cloves garlic, sliced 1/2 cup red pepper, diced 1/2 cup zucchini, diced 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced 1 cup fresh spinach, chopped 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray glass baking dish with cooking spray and lay the noodles across the bottom so they don't stick (use olive oil or cooking spray if necessary). In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, 1/4 cup mozzarella, parmesan, egg white, parsley, basil, and pepper.

Heat a skillet to medium-high heat. Add oil. Saute garlic for 1 minute. Add vegetables (I didn't have red pepper and I added onion)and saute for 3 minutes. Add spinach and saute just until spinach is wilted. Allow mixture to cool, drain well and combine with cheese mixture.

Spoon ricotta filling onto the noodles, leaving about 3 inches of space on each end of the noodle. Roll up the noodles and arrange in glass baking dish. Pour 1/4 cup tomato sauce over each roll-up. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the cover and top with remaining mozzarella cheese and bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes.

Notes: Do NOT ever, ever, ever buy fat free mozzarella cheese. Definitely an accident I will never repeat. It's disgusting. It doesn't even really melt. I love gooey, melty cheese and this certainly was not. In the before and after baking pictures, notice the cheese isn't melted on the top? Yeah, exactly.