How a vegetarian got her wish:
As our customer base grew, so did our menu. We made chicken dishes in every way possible, mouth-watering roasts with potatoes and carrots, slow-cooked prime rib, oven roasted turkey, brown sugar ham, and a plethora of ground beef dishes. This is when a customer brought it to our attention that vegetarians like to eat too. She bought a lot of our meaty meals for her husband, a big fan of all things meat.
I told her jokingly, “We have all kinds of salads and vegetable sides. Grab a head of lettuce out there.”
She had a sense of humor and responded, “Just because I don’t eat meat doesn’t mean I wanna live on lettuce every day.”
Point taken.
She added, “There are a lot of us ‘crazy’ (she used air quotes) vegetarians who want an actual main dish to eat. Can’t you cater to us. You are a ‘catering company’ (she used air quotes again) after all.”
Funny girl. And another point well made.
So JoAnn dug through her own recipes and came up with this little gem. It’s so good, our vegetarian requester’s husband even loved it. And he didn’t seem to mind that it was actually pretty good for him too. … or maybe she never told him.
Spinach and Black Bean Lasagna
Wait, stay with me. Don’t let the name turn you off! I know, I know … it sounds slightly too healthy? yuck? (insert your adjective here.) But take it from me, an admitted picky eater who used to hate to try new things, it’s delicious.
Get a large pot of water and set on high heat to boil the water.
Salt that water! (A couple teaspoons should do it.)
Once boiling, add pasta.
Boil for eight minutes and remove to towel to drain when done.
Drain spinach, but also …
place in towel and squeeze. Take your aggression out on it. Really get in there. Get all the water out. We don’t want soupy spinach.
See? Nice and dry. And clumpy, but don’t worry. It’ll break up in the stirring process.
Mix ricotta, spinach, egg, and cilantro
See? Spinach all mixed in and well hidden behind delicious cheesy flavors.
Now, drain your black beans in a colander ….
and rinse them too.
Pour into food processor and process until relatively smooth. Then …
add pasta sauce and process a bit smoother.
Add cumin and mix.
Get ready to layer. Layering is in, after all.
Scoop in some black bean mixture and smooth,
Layer on noodles and ricotta mixture,
And smooth. Add cheese and keep layering.
Cover this with foil and place in 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Uncover and bake 5-10 minutes more (just to melt that cheesy goodness on top).
Eat. Like I had to tell you the final step.
Spinach and Black Bean Lasagna
Ingredients:
29 oz. black beans, drained, rinsed and mashed
26 oz. pasta sauce
1/2 tsp. cumin
15 oz. container ricotta cheese
10-12 oz. (whatever size bag you get) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
9 lasagna noodles
2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
Directions:
Boil noodles (unless using the non-boil type) for 8 minutes in salted water.
Drain on towel when done.
Combine mashed beans, pasta sauce and cumin.
Combine ricotta, spinach, eggs and cilantro.
Spoon 1/3 of bean mixture into bottom of pan.
Arrange 3 noodles over beans.
Spoon 1/2 spinach mixture over noodles.
Scatter 1 cup cheese over spinach mixture.
Spread remaining spinach mixture over cheese.
Layer 3 more noodles.
Spread half the remaining bean mixture over noodles.
Layer 3 more noodles.
Top with remaining bean mixture.
Top with remaining cheese.
Bake covered at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
Uncover, bake an additional 5 minutes.
Make 9×13 dish
For catering:
Double or triple recipe depending on which size aluminum food service pan you’re using.
Increase baking time to 40-50 minutes so that the center gets good and melty!
Sit back and wait for compliments.
