Today’s recipe is a spin-off of another we posted exactly 8 days shy of a year ago. While that recipe was already health-conscious, this one is actually even more so! ‘Cause let’s be real, eating healthy never gets old. Here we’ve cut out the cheese completely, using whole milk and a wee bit of butter for a light bechamel sauce that’s creamy and satisfying. Plus, a zing of lemon to dress up the kale adds a bright acidity to this otherwise fall-flavored palate. Although it’s not quite fall yet, this recipe will have you cooking with style because no matter the season, eating healthy is always in fashion.

Kale + Mushroom Sweet Potato Lasagna

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

For the filling

• 6 no-boil lasagna noodles
• 24 oz. sweet potato, peeled and sliced
• 4 cups chopped kale, packed
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ tbsp vegetable oil
• ½ lemon, juiced
• 1 cup white mushrooms, sliced
• ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted

For the sauce

• ½ cup onion, diced
• 1 ½ tbsp salted butter
• 2 stalks of scallions, sliced
• ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Steam the sweet potato for 10 minutes. Purée the cooked sweet potato in the food processor and set aside.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet. Add the minced garlic and let cook for ~20 seconds. Add the kale and stir. Squeeze in the lemon juice and cook so the leaves are slightly wilted. Salt to taste and set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350 F.
4. For the sauce, cook the onions in the butter until they are translucent. Add in the scallions and continue to cook for a minute more. Then add in the flour and cook the mixture for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk in the milk and cook, whisking constantly, until thick and bubbling (~8 to 10 minutes). Whisk in the salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
5. Time to assemble the lasagna! In an 8″ x 10″ casserole dish, start by spooning a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the dish and then layering down 2 lasagna sheets. Spoon another layer of sauce to cover the noodles (For simplicity sake, “lasagna noodles” in the next sentence implies sauce is also layered before and after). The remaining layers are as follows: ½ sweet potato purée, mushrooms, lasagna noodles, ½ sweet potato purée, kale, lasagna noodles, pine nuts.
6. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes (Note: cooking time may vary depending on the brand of your lasagna noodles). Uncover and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.