Day 21: Paleo Potluck & Zucchini Lasagna

I was invited to a Paleo Potluck and honestly had no idea what to make!  I first thought of the sloppy joes, but knowing how messy that could be I decided to scratch that idea.  I checked the invite to see what other folks were bringing and figured I could make my zucchini lasagna.  I also had some Brussels sprouts and decided to bring a side dish as well (yes, I was really busy in the kitchen that day).  

We had a lot of fun and the food was awesome!  There were salmon, curry meatballs, chicken stir-fry, chicken wings, almond butter, cucumber water, and apple crisps!  The food was so delish that we might have another potluck this weekend.  Anyway, on to a recipe: 

Zucchini Lasagna (adapted from The Food Lovers Kitchen):

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of ground meat (beef or turkey - I've tried both and loved it equally)
• 1 cup of green bell peppers, diced
• 1 cup of onion, diced
• 1 tbsp of basil 
• 1 tbsp of parsley
• 1 tbsp of oregano
• 1 Zucchini, julienne (thinly sliced)
• 1.5 cups of mushroom, sliced
• 15 oz of tomato sauce
• 6 oz of tomato paste 
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• Salt & Pepper, to taste
• Red crushed pepper flakes (optional - if you want it spicy)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Brown the meat over medium heat - breaking it into pieces.
3. Add garlic, onion, and green peppers and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Stir in tomato paste and tomato sauce.
5. Then add parsley, basil, and oregano.  Bring sauce to a boil, then remove from heat.
6. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper if needed. 
7. Grab a 9" x 13" baking dish and layer the sauce thinly in the baking dish.
8. Then layer the zucchini and mushrooms over the sauce - repeat and alternate the layering of sauce, zucchini and mushrooms. 
9. Bake the lasagna for 15 minutes - covered.  Then, remove the foil and increase the temperature to 350 and bake for another 15 minutes.  
10. Remove and enjoy!