I use this recipe from the Hungry Girl. I love it. Stuffed 'n Squashed Mushroom Foil Pack 2011 Hungry Girl. All Rights Reserved. yield: 2 servings Level: Easy Ingredients 2 wedges light spreadable Swiss cheese (recommended: The Laughing Cow Light), room temperature 1 zucchini, ends removed, finely diced 2 large portabella mushrooms, stems chopped and reserved 1 teaspoon finely chopped onion 1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic 1/8 teaspoon salt Dash ground thyme Black pepper 1/2 tablespoon reduced-fat Parmesan-style grated topping Directions Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a bowl, combine cheese wedges, zucchini, chopped mushroom stems, onion, garlic, salt, and thyme. Add pepper, to taste. Mix until smooth. Set aside. Lay a large piece of heavy-duty foil on a baking sheet. Lightly spray both sides of the mushroom caps with olive oil nonstick spray, and place next to each other on the foil with the rounded sides down. Spoon veggie-cheese mixture into the mushroom caps-there will be a lot, so pack it in! Sprinkle with grated topping. Place another large piece of foil over the caps. Fold together and seal all four edges of the two foil pieces, forming a well-sealed packet. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 23 to 25 minutes, until mushrooms are tender. Allow the packet to cool for a few minutes, and then cut it to release steam before opening it entirely. (Careful-steam will be hot.) If you like, season with additional salt and thyme, to taste. Enjoy! PER SERVING (1/2 of recipe, 1 large stuffed mushroom): 90 calories, 2.5g fat, 400mg sodium, 10g carbs, 3g fiber, 4g sugars, 6.5g protein Linda

Lasagna is more about a method than a recipe. All of your ingredients sound good except for one thing: Moisture. You have lots of moisture and nothing to sop it up with--or, that is, I took this to mean that you want to use zucchini instead of pasta. The pasta is what soaks up the excess moisture, as well as the ricotta (if you use it well drained). Why does it have to have sour cream? Just because you have it? I think your ingredients sound fine except for the sour cream. The dish is light on protein if you don't use the meat. You could try draining the sour cream, or even adding some heat and acid to separate it from from the whey, but you don't need it to make lasagna. Okay, this might work if you really want to use the sour cream. Instead of making a tomato sauce, per se, use it to make a cream tomato sauce. Use your thicker canned tomato products, like some whole or diced tomatoes, drained, and some tomato paste. Recipe-ish: Slice the zucchini thin, lightly oil with cooking oil, and lightly season. Lay on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and roast or broil at 375-400° (depending on your oven) until well dry and just starting to get dark edges. Set the sour cream out on the counter to warm up some. Sauté a couple diced onions (or a giant one like they had at my store the other day), a diced red pepper or two, and 6 large cloves of garlic to a whole head, pressed or minced, depending on your preference as to quantity. Add any of the other vegetables you mentioned, cut to the same size as your onions and pepper--or steam them separately, and mix with dried herbs to use instead of meat. Be generous with the oil, which will help the viscosity of the sauce. Add chopped or dried Italian herbs: a spoon or two of oregano, thyme, basil, parsley, etc., plus some black pepper and, if you like a little heat, crushed red pepper. Stir in a can or two of tomato paste until you have a very stiff chunky sauce. Add the solids from your diced or whole canned tomatoes. Add salt to taste, but there may be plenty in the cans. Remove from heat. When the sauce has cooled down to no more than slightly warm, stir in the sour cream. Beat in an egg or two. Do you have any more cheese than the half lb. of mozzarella? Some bread crumbs? If you have bread crumbs--if this isn't meant to be a starch free dish--toast them on your baking tray. You're just drying them out. Or, if you have matzah meal or matzah (Cuisinart is great for grinding matzah) you can skip the toasting. The bread crumbs are there to soak up moisture and help with the gluing since there isn't much cheese. If you're making a meat version, brown the ground beef and add seasoning, herbs (try tarragon, for instance) and some tomato paste, or use crushed tomatoes and reduce out the extra water. If you're using the spinach feta chicken sausage, and it's already cooked, tear it up, or else cook it in crumbles. Make a béchamel, including the nutmeg, and stir the sausage into it. The apple sausage isn't a good idea with tomato. Or prepare the broccoli, cauliflower, maybe some carrots, and any other veg you want, as stated above, by steaming and dressing with a little olive oil and plenty of dried herbs. S&P to taste. You can use béchamel instead of the oil, but I'm losing track of whether or not there can be wheat in this dish. The trick is to chop small. Bigger than minced, but small enough not to be chunks that need to be chewed separately. Put a big spoon of sauce, without many chunks in the bottom of the pan and spread it all around, or oil the pan well. Lay out the zucchini slices to cover as much as possible. Spread on the sauce with a soft baking spatula. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, if you're using them, enough cheese to cover but being careful to leave plenty for the layers and a goodly amount for the top. Add a second layer of zucchini and sauce and a layer of your saucy meat, or steamed veg mix, or another layer of the tomato sauce, bread crumbs and cheese. Repeat the first layer and cap with a fourth layer of zucchini, or go straight to the topping, depending on the height of your dish. You can go five or six layers if you have enough zucchini, filling and dish. If you have any sauce left, coat the top layer of zucchini with it. If not, slightly dilute some tomato paste with wine and oil until it's just spreadable and use that. Sprinkle with herbs. Cover liberally with the rest of your cheese. Cover very loosely with foil and bake at 350° for about 35 minutes. Remove the foil and finish baking for another 10-15 minutes until nicely browned and bubbling hot. An alternative would be to make béchamel (besciamella) out of the sour cream. It's possible. I've done it. But it's so so so easy to make it go wrong and have it curdle or split that I don't really recommend it unless you feel very comfortable doing it. That is, it's possible if it's pure cream (ingredients says cream and enzymes). If there are stabilizers or even just added milk solids or something, don't even try. That's traditional lasagna, the besciamella is. Good luck! Buon appetito!

I never had spinach as a child - it was just something Mom never cooked. But as an adult, spinach in a salad was an epiphany for me. Heaven on a plate. And, of course, who could forget Olive Garden's Spinach Artichoke dip? I make it at home all the time and we pig out on it. And I know most of you hate Paula Deen, but my sister made this dip for Christmas a couple of years ago and we all loved it. It's heart-attack-in-a-bowl, for sure, and I'd never make it to eat at home, but for a party it was great. SPINACH ONION & BACON DIP 1 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry 1 large onion, finely chopped 3 (8 oz. each) pkgs. cream cheese, softened 1 (5 oz.) pkg. shredded Parmesan cheese 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese 1/2 cup mayonnaise Corn chips, Wheat Thins, or Triscuits Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine all ingredients except chips/crackers in a medium bowl. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart baking dish. Bake 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Serve with chips and/or crackers. Serves 12-15. Dip may be made ahead up to 2 days ahead of time, covered, and refrigerated. Let stand 20 minutes before baking as directed. Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen. OLIVE GARDEN HOT ARTICHOKE AND SPINACH DIP COPYCAT 1 (8 oz.) pkg. Cream Cheese, softened 1 can (14 oz.) Artichoke Hearts, drained, coarsely chopped 3/4 cup Spinach frozen chopped, thawed & squeezed completely dry 1/4 cup Mayonnaise (do not use Miracle Whip) 1/2 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese 1 clove garlic, finely minced 1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning 1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, grated (I use Publix Italian Blend) 1/4 tsp. Garlic Salt 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper Salt and Pepper to taste Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature. Cream together mayonnaise, Parmesan or Romano cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, garlic, basil, and garlic salt. Mix well. Add the artichoke hearts and spinach (careful to drain this well), and mix until blended. Store in a container until you are ready to use. Spray pie pan with Pam (I use a 1-1/2 qt. Corning ware dish), pour in dip, and top with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350° F. for 30-35 minutes or until the top is browned. Serve with toasted bread slices or celery sticks. And one more perennial favorite for holidays here: SPINACH SOUFFLÉ 2 Tblsp. butter 1 large shallot, minced 2 Tblsp. flour 1 cup whole milk (or may use half-and-half) 1/2 tsp. salt Dash pepper 3 eggs, separated 1 (10 oz.) frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry 1/2 cup cheese, grated (Parmesan, Romano, or Asiago) Sauté shallot in butter. Add flour, stir until smooth. Add milk, salt and pepper, heat until slightly thickened. Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. Add to white sauce with spinach and cheese. Beat egg whites until stiff, not dry, fold into sauce. Turn into greased 1-1/2 qt. soufflé dish or casserole. Set in pan of hot water and bake at 350° F. for 50 minutes.

I do love spinach salad. My favorite is with fresh strawberries, mandarin oranges, and feta with poppy seed dressing. You can use just about anything, and can mix it with a little romaine if you don’t like just raw spinach. Smoothies pretty much like rhizo describes is my other use. And DH loves creamed spinach.