Family style dinners: Black bean lasagna

CHICOPEE, Mass. (Mass Appeal) - It seems there is never enough time between work, helping kids with their homework and household chores, getting a delicious and nutritious meal on the table every night isn't easy.

But now, with our new series, family style dinners, you will have more time and less stress. Bill Collins is a personal chef and he showed us how to make a simple and delicious black bean lasagna!

Black Bean Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1 package no-boil lasagna noodles
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 15 oz cans black beans, drained
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, rinsed and minced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Tabasco (or your favorite semi-hot sauce)
• 2 16 oz jars salsa (mild or medium spicy, your choice)
• 1 28 oz can chopped or whole tomatoes
• 8 oz light cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 8 oz part-skim mozzarella, grated
• 1  9” x 13” pan (supermarket disposable lasagna pans work well too).

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°
2. In a large saucepan, over a medium heat, sauté the garlic for 20-30 seconds.  Add the black beans, and bring to a simmer.  Add the cilantro, and simmer for 5 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and Tabasco.  You don’t want the beans too spicy.  Just with a mild bite to them.
3. Set the beans aside to cool (although you can do the following steps with warm beans).
4. In a separate bowl from the beans, combine the salsa and tomatoes.
5. Put approximately 1/3 of the bean mixture into pan. On top of the beans, place three (or four, depending on how many are in the box, and how many fit in the pan) lasagna noodles.  Layer on the noodles almost * 1/3 of the tomato/salsa mixture, *almost 1/3 of the cheese, and 1/3 of the beans.
6. Repeat twice more. Over the top pieces of lasagna noodles, spread the remaining sauce, and then sprinkle the top with cheese.
7. Bake, covered w/foil, for 30 mins.  Remove foil, and bake 10-20 mins more, or until the pasta is cooked through, and everything is bubbly.

Tips:
The key is to reserve approximately 1/2 cup of the tomato mixture, and 1/2 cup of cheese to place on top.

Gluten-Free Note: Gluten-free lasagna noodles (even the no-boil type) work well with this recipe