Skinny Chicken and Veggie Lasagna Rollups

So I just found out I am going to Miami on a mini vacay for Winter Music Conference. FINALLY! I have been absolutely ecstatic about it, I need a break from the routine of real life. However, I have one month... one month until tropical weather, one month until pool and beach time, one month until.... dunh dunh dunh.... bathing suits. Commence panic mode. I am not one to do the crash diets, I think I would rather jump off a cliff and land in cacti. At one point I tried the meal prepping cool thing to do and by the third day of chicken, broccoli and brown rice, I fell into a grumpy depression. I would scream and curse at cars on the highway for merely existing and not many people would come near me by my resting bitch face... which I have on the regular anyways, but this time was pretty bad. I'm sure people thought I was about to eat their face off while ripping off my clothes hulk style at any second.... 

So long story short, I have come to a compromise with myself. I am going to make "skinny" meals for myself for the next month. I hope you guys are on board, bikini season is coming for you too, you know! I may make the occasional sweet treat for my boy, but rest assured I will merely have a taste... or 2... OK I am allowed a cheat day for gosh sakes! 

My skinny lasagna rollups are first on the list! Packed full of LIGHT cheese (fat free ricotta), veggies and lean ground chicken, this is the healthier, lighter version of the notoriously fattening Italian feast. 

Also, the noodles I used are from a brand called Dreamfields. This pasta is loaded with extra fiber and has a 65% lower glycemic index. Make sure you only cook the pasta until it is al dente, meaning with a little firmness left to it. This is the healthiest way to eat pasta. The mushier it is, the higher the glycemic index! 

I gotta tell you, none of my taste testers, including myself (I am my toughest critic) missed any of the heaviness of the traditional dish. The flavor was there, the meltiness was there, the meat was there. And at the end of the meal, we all didn't feel like croaking over in a food coma! 

My taste testers enjoyed the dish with some toasty baguette and I skipped the bread cus carb overload.... and poured myself a glass of a cabernet/merlot blend. You can also serve this with a light ceasar salad for more vegg! 

Some of the wine I was just talking about, was poured into the tomato sauce... I LOVE wine in my Italian dishes. It gives the sauce a very rich flavor. Making the marriage of the sauce with the meat and cheese taste absolutely divine. 

Servings: Makes 8 Rollups
Time: 1.5 hours

Ingredients:

• 8 Dreamfields -Healthy Carb Living- Lasagna Noodles
• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 large portobello mushroom cap, chopped
• 1 large bunch of baby spinach leaves
• 1 jar Bertolli Organic Pasta Sauce with olive oil, basil and garlic
• 1/2 cup red wine (I used a cab/merlot blend)
• 2 cups fat free ricotta cheese 
• 1 cup part skim shredded mozzarella cheese + extra for garnish
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese + extra for garnish
• 1 egg
• 10 fresh basil leaves, julienne cut
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp italian seasoning
• 1 tsp garlic powder + 1 tsp garlic powder
• Salt & Pepper 

Directions:

• If you will be serving this dish right away, set your oven now to 350 degrees. If you are making it for a later time, wait to preheat the oven. 
• You will need a medium sauce pan for the sauce, one large frying pan for the chicken and one large sauce pan for your lasagna noodles. 
• Cook your noodles in the large saucepan as directed on the package. Add some salt to the water, this will be the only time you can add a little flavor to the noodles! MAKE SURE NOODLES ARE AL DENTE! AKA with a little firmness left. This is the healthiest way to eat pasta. 
• In the medium sauce pan, add the jar of pasta sauce + red wine + italian seasoning + salt and pepper + 1 tsp garlic powder + crushed red pepper. Set to low heat and leave to simmer. 
• In your large frying pan add olive oil + onion and toss, allow to saute for about 2 minutes. 
• Add minced garlic. Toss. Saute for about 5 minutes. 
• Add mushrooms, Toss. Sautee for about 5 minutes. 
• Now move that mixture off to the side of the pan and on the other side add the ground chicken. Break the chicken up with a wooden spoon so its in smallish bits. Then after its half cooked, mix everything up in the pan.
• Season everything in the pan with some salt and pepper
  
• Allow chicken to cook through. 
• Turn heat off and leave pan to sit while you do your next steps. 

• When your noodles are al dente, take them off the heat, drain and let sit in a drainer. 
• Now its time to make the cheese mixture! Take a mixing bowl and add ricotta + mozzarella + parmesan + basil + 1 tsp garlic powder + egg + a pinch of each -salt and pepper 

• Mix it up well and set aside. 
• Now you can set up your assembly line! Get out your large serving dish and spoon into it some of the pasta sauce to coat the bottom of the dish. I put almost half of the sauce at the bottom. 
• Lay out some parchment paper on your counter and then place your lasagna noodles on it. With a paper towel, pat them all dry front and back. 
• Remember NOT to add a ton of ingredients to each lasagna noodle or you will have a tough time getting them to roll and stay. 
• You will start with the cheese mix, use a spoon to spread some out, leaving about 1/2 inch on each end empty. 
• Then place some baby spinach leaves on top of that. 
• Then add some meat mix.
• Roll up!

• Then you can tuck them in your baking dish, seam side DOWN, and side by side like little sardines :)

• When you have them all in the dish, spoon over them the rest of your sauce. 
• Sprinkle some more mozzarella cheese on top of them. 

• At this point, I covered it with foil and put it in the fridge for an hour while I went for a run. This part is NOT necessary but thats the beauty of this dish! You can make it ahead of time and then pop it in the oven when you are ready. Preheat your oven to 350. 
• One extra little step I took before putting them in the oven... since some of the noodle wasn't covered in sauce, I didn't want them to dry out so I drizzled some olive oil on the pasta bits that did not have sauce. 
• Place the dish in the oven, covered. Leave it in there for 45 minutes. 
• At the end of the 45 minutes take off the foil and allow to cook for another 5-7 minutes. 
• Take out the dish, sprinkle some extra parmesan on top and you are ready to serve!
• Warm up a sourdough baguette and serve with the leftover wine!

Stay tuned for more skinny recipes! 

xoxo, Tiny Taster