Crispy Southwestern Lasagna: Make Ahead Recipes: Freeze and Please

Crispy Southwesetern Lasagna

What’s great about freezing is you can cook on your own time frame.  When I was on the NBC Weekend Today show preparing a recipe for Crispy Southwestern Lasagna from my first trim& Terrific cookbook, the book soared to #4 on Amazon!!!  My kids were finally impressed, but, I knew what was impressing everyone:  freezing!  So, in all my cookbooks, I have a snowflake symbol to indicate  freezer friendly recipes.  I then wrote a cookbook that focuses on freezing, Holly Clegg trim&TERRIFIC Freezer Friendly Meals, for all those that like to cook on their own time frame.  I also included in the book everything you wanted to know about freezing but didn’t know where to look.  Here is the recipe for the Crispy Southwestern Lasagna that started off my understanding of freezing. I always make lasagna and freeze ahead whenever I have a group coming to my house.

Crispy Southwestern Lasagna  from The New Holly Clegg trim&TERRIFIC Cookbook with over 500 recipes        

Makes 8-10 servings

1 pound ground sirloin
1 (14 ½-oz) can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 (4-oz) can diced green chilies, drained
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
2 egg whites
2 cups reduced-fat or fat- free cottage cheese
14 (6-inch) corn or flour tortillas, cut into quarters
1 (15 1/4-ounce) can corn, drained
1 (8-oz) package  shredded reduced-fat Mexican blend cheese

1. Preheat oven 350˚F.
2. In large nonstick skillet, cook meat over medium heat until done.  Add tomatoes and juice, green chilies, chili powder, cumin, garlic, salt, and pepper; set aside.
3. In small bowl, blend egg whites and cottage cheese well; set aside.
4. Coat a 13x9x2-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Cover bottom of baking dish with six quartered tortillas.
5. Layer all the corn, half meat mixture, half cheese, four quartered tortillas, then all the cottage cheese mixture, remaining half meat mixture, and remaining four quartered tortillas, and top with remaining cheese.
6. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes. Serve.

Nutritional information per serving

Calories 239, Protein (g) 25, Carbohydrate (g) 20, Fat (g) 7, Calories from Fat (%) 26, Saturated Fat (g) 3, Dietary Fiber (g) 3, Cholesterol (mg) 40, Sodium (mg) 537
Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1 starch, 1 vegetable