I almost always think of Garfield (the cat) when someone mentions lasagna. I used to love the comic strips from days of yore and it ignites feelings of nostalgia when the smell of lasagnas wafts from my kitchen. My brother in law is a big fan of my homemade lasagnas and I'm always inspired to make these especially for him. These are so much fun to make too. It does take about an hour to cook in the oven but the prep work is so easy and you can just throw it in the oven and forget about it until it's time. The only slight complication is the enormous amount of calories involved which is why I haven't made it in years. Gone are the days when my metabolism was as high as a kite. Today, if I ate a handful of dates, all I would be left with is disappointment, guilt and shame when I stepped on the scale the next day. So, why did I decide to make these after all these years? Because I'm a mom. And moms can do anything.

I've scoured tons of recipes for a vegetarian lasagna and it's usually eggplant or spinach or mushroom based. We are not big fans of eggplants or mushrooms so I decided to use vegetables that my family likes - zucchini, peas and carrots.

Ingredients :

1. Lasagna - 9 sheets of the no pre-boil necessary kind.

2. Marinara sauce - 1 jar

3. Ricotta - 1 container (15 oz?)

4. Parmesan - 1/2 cup

5. American singles cheese - 6 slices (optional)

6. Zucchini - 2

7. Frozen and diced peas and carrots - 1 cup

8. Olive oil - 2 tbsp

9. Salt, pepper - to taste

10. Dried basil - 1 tsp

11. Onions - 1/2 sliced

12. Frozen corn - 1/4 cup

13. Garlic powder - 1 tsp

Procedure :

1. Mix ricotta and parmesan in a bowl and set aside.

2. Saute all the vegetables (onions, peas, carrots, corn and zucchini) in some olive oil with pepper, salt, dried basil and garlic powder. Just a couple of minutes should do to infuse the flavor.

2. In a 13x9 baking pan, layer the following way : Sauce, noodles, ricotta mixture, vegetables and repeat. Now you should have 2 layers with the last layer being vegetables.

3. Top with remaining sauce, final layer of noodles, more sauce.

4. Bake covered with foil at 375 deg F. for 50 mins until fork tender. Remove foil, layer with american cheese slices and continue to cook for another 10-15 mins until crispy on the edges. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

*If you don't have ricotta, substitute with the american cheese slices all the way. I promise it will still taste good.