This popular and easy to prepare dish is a great way to introduce leafy greens like collards, Swiss chard and kale into your diet.
This popular and easy to prepare dish is a great way to introduce leafy greens like collards, Swiss chard and kale into your diet.
In this series, I will be sharing healthier alternatives to well-loved meals to share with your family and friends this Ramadan.
This popular and easy to prepare dish is a great way to introduce leafy greens like collards, Swiss chard and kale into your diet. These vitamin-packed greens are often times neglected because no one knows how to cook them, or do not like the taste. I have also replaced the white pasta noodles for a healthy brown rice noodle. White pasta, like white rice, is an anti-nutrient food because it actually brings no nutritional value and robs the body of life-giving enzymes. White pasta and rice are also an inflammatory substance and high on the glycemic index. People with inflammatory conditions should avoid white rice, white flour (and everything made with it) and of course, white sugar.
Ingredients
- 1 Package Lasagna: Brown Rice Noodles
- 1 16 oz container of full fat, small curd cottage cheese
- A bunch of kale, collards and Swiss chard (remove their hard spine and toss out), chopped into strips
- 4-5 cups of pasta sauce
- 1-2 bags full-fat Italian cheeses
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 tablespoon each of dry oregano, basil and thyme, kelp flakes (this will not make it taste “fishy”)
- 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil for sautéing
- Sea salt
Method
Place the cottage cheese, spices, pinch of salt and kelp flakes into a bowl and stir until mixed well. Set aside. Heat a pan for sautéing the onions. After the pan is hot add in the coconut oil and the onions. Sautee for 15-20 minutes or until caramelised. Be careful to not burn the oil or it is rancid.
Set the pot of water for the noodles to boil. After 15 minutes add in the collard, kale and chard into the onions. Pour in 1 tablespoon water and cover for 5 minutes. The flame should be low. Add in 1 teaspoon butter or coconut oil to the boiling water before you add in the noodles.
Be careful not to overcook the noodles or they will not be workable. Stir them and make sure that they stay separate and remove after 7 minutes or while still al dente. Once the noodles are done, drain and separate the noodles and prepare to layer them into the lasagna dish.
Preheat the oven to 245 degrees C (475 degrees F).
Layering the Lasagna
Pour enough pasta sauce into the bottom of the lasagna dish to just cover it lightly.
- Add in the first layer of noodles.
- Pour enough pasta sauce onto them, just to cover them, like a light film.
- Add a generous helping of the herbed cottage cheese and spread.
- Sprinkle a handful, or to your liking, of Italian cheeses over the cottage cheese.
- Next add in a layer of the leafy greens, 6. Top the greens with a layer of pasta sauce.
- Now add a layer of Italian cheese.
- Add one more layer of pasta sauce.
- Place a layer of the lasagna noodles on top of that and repeats steps 1-9. After step 9, add a layer of sauce, very thin and sprinkle some cheese. Cover with a piece of unbleached parchment and then place a sheet of aluminium foil on top. Place in the oven. Check it after one hour. Lift up the foil and if the pasta sauce is bubbling up, remove the parchment and foil and let the top brown, but not too much or it becomes difficult to cut. Remove from the oven and let cool 30-40 minutes.
Serve, and enjoy.
In the next installment, we will be making a delicious Malay Chicken Curry. Until then!
