what's cooking wednesday

last year i attempted to play around a bit with my tired ol' lasagna recipe. it's not that the dinner table crowd didn't like it, but it just didn't have the same "zing" as it did back in the day.

so after some thought & reading of cookbooks & internet recipes, i went out on a limb with this little number. the silence as our dinner crowd dug in was overwhelming...barely a word was spoken throughout the entire meal! plates were clean without the help of the hound patrol! & they wanted more!!!

before Baby Girl left for a semester of college cafeteria food...we had to do this one more time:

Black Bean Lasagna

*Cook 8 oz. lasagna noodles & drain (i am wishing i knew how to do homemade pasta here, but that will come in time...i use whole wheat noodles).

*Saute in olive oil: 1/2 c. chopped red onion, 1/4 c. chopped green pepper, 1/4 c. chopped red pepper, 3 cloves minced garlic until soft.

*Drain & rinse 2 - 15 oz. cans black beans. Mash one can's worth of the beans.

*When the sauteed veggies are soft, add all the black beans, 1 - 14 or 15 oz. can diced tomatoes (i love the Del Monte diced with garlic & olive oil), & 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro - heat through.

*In a large bowl combine 12 oz. cottage cheese, 8 oz. softened cream cheese & 1/4 c. sour cream.

*Use olive oil to coat the bottom of a 3 qt. rectangular baking dish...arrange 3 noodles on the bottom...top with 1/3 bean mixture...spread with 1/3 cheese mixture.

*Repeat until all ingredients are layered.

*Bake at 350 for 45 minutes...let stand 10 minutes before serving