As many of you know, I am a big fan of Aviva Goldfarb and her Six O'Clock Scramble cookbooks and website www.thescramble.com . She is also a contributor to the new PBS Kitchen Explorers, www.pbs.org/parents/kitchenexplorers . Goldfarb and Alice Currah, both amazing moms and cooks are your field guides to this site where you can help your child create magic in the kitchen. I highly recommend giving this site a try with your kids. It's amazing the great confidence that can come from letting your child make something from scratch. I let my 8-year-old son brown the meat for the first time the other day. When we sat down to eat the our chili at dinner, it was the first thing that he mentioned to my husband. "I browned the meat!"
We tried this great recipe for spinach and rice lasagna the other night and everyone thought it was delicious! Though we don't have gluten allegies in our household, I thought of many friends who do and think this is a wonderful gluten-free twist on a traditional lasagna. We will be making this several more times before the winter is over.
To read more about this recipe and discover more great recipes and ways to explore the kitchen with your kids click here.
Recipe: Spinach and Rice Lasagna
Ingredients
- ¾ cups white or quick-cooking brown rice (2 cups cooked)
- 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach
- ¾ cups grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cup part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup nonfat cottage cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1 lb. lean ground turkey or vegetarian ground meat
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- 2 cups red pasta sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat an 8 x 11-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray (a 9 x 13-inch dish will also work if necessary).
- Prepare the rice according to the package directions and cool it slightly in the freezer. Defrost the spinach in the microwave or stovetop and drain it thoroughly (I press the spinach with the bottom of a bowl over a strainer to squeeze out all the water).
- In a medium bowl, combine ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, the mozzarella cheese, and the cottage cheese. Set it aside. In a separate medium bowl, combine the rice, eggs, and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese.
- In a large nonstick skillet, brown the meat over medium heat, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks. (If you are using vegetarian ground meat, brown it in a tablespoon of olive oil.) Add the garlic powder, the spinach, breaking the spinach up with your fingers to separate it, and the pasta sauce, and continue cooking until it is heated through.
- Spoon one half of the rice mixture into the baking dish, spreading it evenly with a spatula (it might not look like you have enough of the rice mixture to cover the bottom but just do your best). Cover it with one half of the cheese mixture, and top that with one half of the meat sauce. Repeat the layers. Top it with the remaining ¼ cup Parmesan cheese.
- Bake it for 15 – 20 minutes until it is hot and bubbly. Serve it immediately or refrigerate it for up to 3 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months.
Preparation time: 25 minute(s)
Cooking time: 20 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 6
