A BIG HELLO and a BIG HUG to all! I’m so excited to be back with my ‘first’ blog post because that just means I’ve pulled through a very successful operation that has given me a new lease of life. And seriously, no words can describe that feeling. I will be sharing more about my ‘ordeal’ in a separate post later cos’ I want to start afresh with a more positive and delicious food post instead, lol. And I just want to say thanks again to my readers and fans who have dropped me your well wishes and greetings which really mean a lot to me. HUGE THANK YOU 🙂

Anyway, I’m currently not quite up and about yet because the incision still hurts, my neck is swelling and I often have breathing difficulties because the swollen area is somewhat choking me. It’s quite a stretch for me to sit in front of my MacBook and type but after days of bed rest, I’m really feeling so bored and restless that I just need to do something to distract myself so I don’t feel too much of that pain and discomfort.

Cheesy goodness 🙂

For today’s post, I just want to share a pasta-free lasagna recipe because I’ve substituted lasagna sheets with cabbage leaves instead. As we all know lasagne are very high in calories and I was trying to think of a way to reduce the evil so it wouldn’t pamper my waistline excessively and that was how I came up with this 🙂 100g of lasagna sheets = 360 kcal but 100g of cabbage leaves = 25 kcal – huge difference isn’t it? Anyway, it’s also the best way to incorporate more vegetables into a seemingly unhealthy yet comforting meal so for those watching your diet (or not, lol), you gotta give this a try because it’s as good as the real deal just with a tad less calories if that helps, lol 😉

Cabbage Lasagna Recipe

Ingredients (serves 4-6)
400g cabbage leaves
400g minced beef
100g button mushrooms, sliced
100g shimeji mushrooms
2 yellow onions, diced
4 tomatoes, diced
80g tomato paste
1 cup water
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp chicken seasoning powder
salt & freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tbsp coconut oil
250g mozzarella cheese, grated

White sauce:
1 1/2 cups skimmed milk
30g unsalted butter
2 tbsp plain flour
2 wedges Laughing Cow reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese + extra for sprinkling

Instructions
1. Heat oil in pan and saute onions till tender.
2. Add minced beef and stir fry till meat is no longer pink.
3. Add mushrooms and briefly stir fry for a minute.
4. Add tomatoes, basil, oregano, chicken seasoning powder, tomato paste and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer till sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat.
5. Gently heat up the milk in a small pot till hot but not boiling.
6. In a pan, melt the butter till foamy. Add in the flour and stir till smooth. Slowly whisk in the hot milk and then add cream cheese and parmesan cheese. Stir till well combined. Turn off heat.
7. Preheat oven to 180 deg C with fan.
8. To assemble the lasagna, spread the meat mixture on the bottom of an oven dish (approx. 12″ x 8″) and then cover with cabbage leaves on top. Pour the white sauce over the cabbage and then sprinkle over a small handful of mozzarella cheese. Repeat the same steps to form another two layers till you fill the dish to the brim.
9. Cover the uppermost layer (surface) with the rest of the mozzarella cheese and sprinkle extra parmesan cheese on top.
10. Bake for 20-25 mins till you get a golden brown cheesy crust on top. Change the oven setting to Grill mode in the last 5-8 minutes.

A side view of my cabbage lasagna. Juicy, moist, crunchy, cheesy, hot, fresh and just so comforting. Who can resist this? 🙂

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