Do you ever have one of those ideas for dinner just pop into your head...and you are SURE that it is going to come out EXACTLY like you imagine it to...and then it doesn't?!

That happened tonight. Sandi had posted that she was cooking a pasta-less lasagna and I thought...that sounds good! Here is what I did...maybe someone can tell me what I could have done different. It turned out sort of like a turkey vegetable soup.

2 onions, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1 pound baby carrots
10 oz sliced cremini mushrooms
1T olive oil
...I cooked the veggies in the olive oil until the onions were transparent

Separate pot...I cooked a pound of 99% lean ground turkey with some non-stick cooking spray
Added 1T oregano and 1T garlic powder, some salt and pepper and a jar of Trader Joe's Marinara Sauce

I added the veggies to the turkey and poured in a can of fire roasted tomatoes with a couple of bay leaves.
Simmered the pot for 20 minutes, covered.

Tasted it and added some cayenne pepper to zip it up, about a quarter cup of Splenda granular to enhance the tomato flavor. Finally, I added a bag of fresh baby spinach and continued to cook it until it was wilted.

I put some shredded mozarella in my bowl and poured in a ladle full of my mixture...stirred it around and decided that it looked NOTHING like lasagna. It didn't taste like lasagna either. Turkey and vegetable soup.

Any ideas?

Kim, how long has it been since you've HAD lasagna? Maybe you don't remember how IT tasted.

I don't call mine pasta less lasagna, but here's the meal that I cooked:

Saute 2 pounds ground turkey in a little evoo. While it's browning, I smash 2 garlic cloves and coursely chop an onion. I usually also use 2 carrots peeled and chopped a little larger than bite size and 2 zucchini. This week I couldn't find decent zucchini, so I used 1 12 oz pkg of frozen green beans. When the meat was done (I gotta admit I like the beef better, but this worked well), I put it in my slow cooker. I added tomato sauce to cover the meat, about 2 cups. Back in the pan I saute the onions and carrots. When they are tenderish, I add the smashed garlic and swish it around in the mix. I rinse the green beans in hot running water until they are rubbery. I add all this to the slow cooker as it is ready. I added a splash of white wine. I add salt. I prefer the zucchini much more, but the green beans were a nice change o' pace and I will use them again in a pinch. Mine is so thick I can eat it totally alone. I don't use cheese on it this week. I've used grated parm in the past, but forgot to buy it this week.

This may be too plain for your tastes, but the consistency is very thick and chunky like a great pizza sauce. If you wanted it to be like lasagna, I'd cook the saucey stuff in a pot, then put layers of cheese and eggplant and sauce in the cooker. It still would NOT be like lasagna, but it would be a little more like an eggplant parmasean for you without the grease and breading.

I think that I had too many veggies, not enough sauce...and ground turkey just doesn't taste like beef. Oh! And cheese. I really think that more sauce and cheese would have fixed the problem. I need to run the numbers in FitDay to see just what the breakdown is on this soupy non-pasta lasagna. Good grief.

Hey...for what it's worth, I ran the numbers through FitDay. This entire recipe came out to:
1490 calories; 26% fat; 34% carb; 40% protein. Not bad!!! All of the carbs are coming from veggies...in my book, that is a big a-okay! Assuming that I can get 6 hearty servings from this, it breaks down to:
248 calories
7g fat
27g carb
7g fiber
23g protein.

I'm going to add a stick of string cheese to my lunch portion. That will up things a wee bit, but still, a very do-able meal. It might not be lasagna, but it's healthy!

Healthy and as delicious as ground turkey can be.

Kim, you have the right idea, but if you want it to look and therefore 'seem' more like lasagna, drain the tomatoes and put them in a pot and reduce them by half(you may need to double the tomatoes). Then add all the other cooked veggies just like you did them and stir. You will have a very thick sauce to put over, like Sandi said, slices of eggplant. Cook the eggplant first, in the oven with just a spritz of olive oil. Then, layer the following, eggplant, meat, sauce, cheese in as many layers as you need, put it in the oven for about 30 minutes at 350° til bubbly and the cheese on top starts to brown. I bet you will think you are eating lasagna.

I also wouldn't use a crockpot because the point is to reduce the liquid, just put it all in a baking dish once assembled and into the oven.

You could also try using something like proscuitto to help form the layers and that is another meat.

I think that having my pot covered while cooking the veggies is what screwed things up!

Regardless...I ate it today for lunch and it was flavorful and nutritious. I just can't call it lasagna!

Thanks for the tips!

Oh my goodness I can't believe I am not the only one that has something not come out quite right!! Kim you just inspired me to keep trying regardless the results. Thank you so much!!

Please don't take this as being mean spirited because I meant it totally as an appreciative compliment.