Healthy Lasagna Roll Ups

I love lasagna, but the classic lasagna is typically weighed down with whole-fat cheeses, and is very rarely portion controlled. I stole this from the Clean Eating Mag site, and what I love about this recipe, outside of the taste, is that it allows you to easily portion control your meals, and helps fill that craving for pasta and cheese.  I come back to this recipe time and time again, sometimes using ground bison, and sometimes using turkey.  Each will create a different texture and flavor, but they are equally delicious.

When it comes to whole foods, and clean foods, I always tell people that you need to know what you're willing to compromise in your diet.  I use low-fat and fat-free cheeses, however, other clean eaters would argue that these are over processed and not a healthy solution.  You have to be your own gauge when it comes to what you put in your diet, and what you choose to leave out.  If you prefer whole-fat, you can still make this recipe, it will just clearly have a higher fat content.

Ingredients:
- 8 Whole Wheat Lasagna sheets (cooked to pkg. directions)
- 1 15 oz. pkg. Low-fat Ricotta
- 1 pkg. Frozen Spinach, thawed and drained
- 1 Egg
- 3/4 c. Low-fat Shredded Mozzarella, divided
- 2 tbs. Fresh Basil (chopped)
- 1 tsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 small Onion, chopped
- 1 clove Garlic, chopped
- 1 lb. Ground Bison
- 1 28 oz. can Whole Tomatoes
- 1 tbsp. Smoked Paprika
- 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp. Cumin
- Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a skillet or saute pan, heat EVOO on medium. Add onions, lightly salt, and cooked for 3 minutes.  Add garlic, and cook for additional 2 minutes.
2. Add bison, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and cumin to bison and break up meat, cooking until very little pink is left.
3. Add whole tomatoes to pan, cover, and allow ingredients to simmer on low for 25 minutes, occasionally stirring in order to break up tomatoes.
4. While the meat sauce is cooking, cook lasagna noodles to package directions.  In a medium bowl, combine egg, ricotta, fresh basic, salt, pepper, spinach (squeezed of all excess fluid), and 1/4 cup mozzarella and mix well.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread 1 cup of cooked tomato sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 10-inch casserole dish.  Lay a cooked lasagna noodle flat in front of you.  Use a spoon to spread 1/8 of the ricotta mixture across the noodle, and roll it up.  Place the rolled pasta seam side down, into the casserole dish.  Repeat with the remaining noodles.  Spread the remaining tomato sauce over the roll-ups, then top with the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella.
6. Bake, covered with foil, for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and broil for 5 minutes or until roll-ups are browned and bubbly.

If you find that you are someone who doesn't know how to eat lasagna without overeating, you'll greatly appreciate how each roll-up is an individual serving running around 234 calories (this is not a solid number as it will change depending on what type of meat you use). And like any pasta, the next day leftovers taste almost better than the fresh out of the oven product.  So, good luck and enjoy!

Bad-Ass Bison Burgers

I love a good burger, but I very rarely CRAVE a burger to the point of breaking.  My husband however, can dream about a good burger for an entire month, waiting until he feels he "deserves" his burger and then sits down at a restaurant, napkin in hand, with fingers ready for french fry dipping. 

The idea of trying the bison burger came primarily out of the fact that I was finishing up a round of P90X, and I wanted to go to Kimball's Farm to get ice cream, and I had been planning this for about a month.  Three days prior to this, my husband turned to me and said, I know you want to get ice cream, but I really want a Gibbet burger.  Well, too bad for him. I wasn't coming into work on my day off, when I was supposed to be eating ice cream, so that he could have a burger.  And so, to the ground bison I went to satiate his burger craving.  

Ingredients:

16 oz. Ground bison meat
2 Bakery whole wheat ciabatta rolls, toasted
Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
1/2 Yellow onion
3/4 c. Chopped mushroom
Cheese of your choice
1 Roma tomato
1/2 c. Romaine lettuce

I'm sure, by know, you're all aware that I grill my meat as often as  possible, so of course this is the cooking approach that I took with the bison burger itself.  The only ingredients I add to the meat is the salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and I then form the meat into two patties (yeah, I like an 8 oz. burger, no matter how unnecessary that may be).  Prior to throwing the bison on the grill, I caramelized the onion and mushroom by sauteing them in a non-stick pan over medium heat, so it would be ready to place on the burger as soon as the burger is done.  

While the bison is cooking on the grill, spray the buns with a little bit of olive oil, and throw them on the grill to toast.  Because bison is an extremely lean meat, the recommended temperature for the meat is between medium rare or medium.  If you prefer your meat more done than this, I would warn you that bison tends to get dry and tasteless once you go too far into medium well.  Both myself and my husband have grilled meat in restaurants, so as far as temperature goes, we can tell how far along the meat is just by touch and look, but use a meat thermometer if you need to.  

Once the meat hits medium rare, I top the burger with the mushroom and onion, and then place the cheese on top to melt (in this case I used a goat chevre, although on my husbands, I used a Swiss cheese).  I then placed some chopped Romaine lettuce and sliced Roma tomato to the bun, and then took a giant bite into one of the best burgers I've probably every had.  My husband actually looked at me after his first two bites and said, "I could never eat a ground beef burger again, and totally be OK with it!"     

The reality is, that bison meat is far more expensive than ground beef (about $8 for a pound of bison), but you are paying for the health benefits of bison, and when you see the comparison of fats and nutrients to several other meats, it's obvious why bison can be the better choice.  

National Bison Association