Zucchini-Quinoa Lasagna

2 large zucchini, cut lengthwise into 12 1/4-inch thick slices
1 tsp salt
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
1/8 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped
8 oz cream cheese
18 oz jar marinara sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

1) Place zucchini slices on bed of paper towels. Sprinkle with salt, cover with paper towels, and let stand to release moisture while preparing quinoa.
2) Bring broth, quina, onion and oregano to a boil in saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 25 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, and stir in basil, parsley and cream cheese.
3) Preheat oven to 400F. Spoon 1/3 cup marinara sauce over bottom of 8x8 inch baking dish. Blot remaining moisture and salt from zucchini slices, and lay 4 zucchini slices over marinara sauce in pan. Spoon half of quinoa over zucchini slices, remaining quinoa and 1/3 cup marinara. Top with remaining 4 zucchini slices, remaining marinara and shredded cheese.
4) Bake lasagna for 30 minutes, or until zucchini is tender and top is bubbly.

Review: Once again, I did not fully read the recipe before getting started. Regardless of the lack of pasta in the ingredient list, it still didn't register that this wasn't a typical lasagna! I've made lasagna before, using zucchini slices instead of pasta. However, it is ALWAYS a pain to make, as I can never get all of the ingredients to fit into an 8x8 dish, and it's never enough to fill out a 9x13 dish. After I finished cursing my lack of preparedness, I resolved to make a casserole. I only had two layers of zucchini slices, in a 9x13 dish, with all of the filling between those two layers. Of course, my servings looked like a casserole and not like a lasagna! It was really tasty, though. The quinoa added an unexpected crunch and the cream cheese provided lots of creamy savoriness. It was also a realllllllly hot dish, which didn't cool off for some time. That was exactly what we needed on a cold, snowy night!

Adapted from:

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/zucchini-quinoa-lasagna/