Goodbye Takeout Hello Homemade: Recipe #55: Rolled Lasagna with Tomato Chicken

These last couple of months have proven pretty difficult to stay on the straight and narrow with our health track. Yes, we have been swimming the past couple of days, which is always really fun as well as helps burn some unwanted calories. But on the other hand, we've realized that it is only so much fun at a public pool after 6pm.

We did not get much of a workout tonight...it seemed like all of the neighbors' kids came to the pool tonight to not only run but jump into the pool only inches from where we waded...grrr. So we left early and I decided that since we couldn't get the kind of workout we desired I would make a healthy, low fat dinner.

This blog: http://thehealthyfoodie.com/2011/06/29/smoked-salmon-lasagna-rolls/ inspired me to roll the lasagna in a way I had never done before. So many of these bloggers are so creative and whenever I come across recipes like this I think to myself, "How did I not think of this?!" Instead of serving the noodles cold like in this recipe version I cooked the noodles and then baked them like traditional lasagna. On top of that, I slow cooked some chicken breasts and they were a perfect balance to our vegetarian pasta.

Ingredients:

* 1 lb of Chicken Breasts
* 1/2 jar of Ragu Light No Sugar Added Tomato Sauce (or your preference)
* Whole Grain Lasagna Noodles
* 1 jar of Marinated Artichoke Hearts
* 1 jar of Capers
* Low Fat Ricotta Cheese
* 2 Tbsp of ExtraVirgin Olive Oil

Cooking Directions (Chicken Breasts):

Wash the chicken breasts and then place them in a crock pot and turn on High heat.

Pour the tomato sauce into the crock pot over and around the chicken.

With a fork pierce the raw chicken to help marinate and cook the chicken better.

Then pour the artichoke hearts, half of the jar of the artichoke marinade, and about 2 Tbsp of Capers into the crock pot.

Cover the chicken and then cook for 2 hours.

Cooking Directions (Lasagna Noodles):

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bring a large pot of water and the extra virgin olive oil to a boil.

Place several of the lasagna noodles into the boiling water and cook for about 12 minutes.

Drain and rinse with cool water before transferring the noodles to paper towels and patting dry.

Take a generous portion of ricotta cheese and place onto the top of each lasagna noodle.

Spread the ricotta cheese so that the noodle is covered.

Then place about 1 tsp of capers onto each ricotta cheese spread noodle.

Then roll it up so that each noodle looks like a hay barrel.

Spray a baking dish with canola oil.

Then place each rolled up lasagna noodle into the baking dish.