Impromptu Entertaining with Vegetable Lasagna
Last week at a small, impromptu dinner party in our home, I served this Vegetable Lasagna–packed with plenty of vegetables and cheese–and we served it with a fresh green salad and crunchy bread.
This week we are living in abundance, again! We’re surrounded by so much. When you think of our homes, neighbors, good food at our tables, sometimes it’s almost too good to be true! I truly am thankful for the abundance of what we’ve been given in this life.
Last week, an invite was made that we didn’t really plan on, so I ended up making a very simple lasagna (using ingredients that I already had on hand). I love being able to bless others on a whim!
Impromptu entertaining.
You can sort of call this impromptu entertainering!
Impromptu dining experiences can sometimes result in the funnest times together. You don’t have time to stress about the details, and you learn to go with the flow and to “enjoy the moment.”
I’ve had times when my house was a mess, and the kids were running like crazy, but we still gathered and enjoyed a meal together with good friends. To me those times reflected the essence of true entertaining.
Vegetable Lasagna.
Today’s recipe is quick and easy, budget-friendly, vegetarian, and one perfect for an impromtu dinner!
If you haven’t bought DeLallo’s Organic Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles (no-boil, oven-ready), they are the best!
Layer with cheese and fresh basil.
You’ll have a lasagna dinnerready to serve in less than 1 hour!
How to enjoy impromptu entertaining:
– Invite people into your home instead of going out to a restaurant (where the food can sometimes be very disappointing).
– You can sit as long as you want and visit and not worry about getting kicked out.
– You can eat good food, and you know exactly where it came from.
– You don’t have to get dressed up.
– If you have time to plan ahead, you can share the cost by delegating a portion of the meal.
It’s important to share day to day life with the people that we care about. I took out the part about hosting sometimes being expensive cuz you just mentioned delegating to control costs.
And you know, as I always say, Delegate! Delegate!
When’s the last time you hosted “impromptu” and what did you serve?
Get the Recipe:
Vegetable Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 large onion
- 4 cups baby Portabella mushrooms, sliced
- 8 cups spinach
- 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
- Favorite seasoning, I used Italian
- Fresh basil leaves, about 8-12
- 8 oz. Parmesan cheese, I used shaved, divided
- 4 oz. Mozzarella cheese or Jack cheese thinly sliced or shredded
- 9 oz. DeLallo Whole Wheat Lasagna, 15 sheets – no-boil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the onions for about 3 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook another 5 minutes on medium heat, stirring continually. Add the spinach, stir until wilted.
- Add the tomatoes and tomato sauce. Add favorite Italian seasoning and season the sauce to taste.
- Spray a 9×13 baking dish and place 5 sheets of lasagna noodles on the bottom, overlapping one another. Spread 1 cup of the sauce on top, and sprinkle Jack or Mozzarella cheese (or thinly sliced). Next, lay down about 8-12 fresh basil leaves.
- Layer again 5 lasagna noodles, 1/2 of the sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, and repeat this process.
- Place remaining sauce on top and sprinkle with 1 cup of Parmesan cheese. Cover the baking dish with foil. Bake lasagna for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake until hot and bubbly, about 20 more minutes.
- Let lasagna sit for 10 minutes before serving.
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For more #MeatlessMonday Recipes:
Visit Kalyn’s Kitchen Meatless Monday
Aggie’s Kitchen Two Bean Vegetarian Lasagna
Cookin’ Canuck’s Vegetarian Enchilada Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
Foodie Crush’s Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lasagna Soup
and Skinnytaste’s Vegetarian Recipes for #MeatlessMonday
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
it’s been awhile since we’ve done impromtu just because of schedule. I usually panic a bit because the shelves/fridge aren’t usually stocked….so never a guarantee what there will be…lol…I always laugh when I think about the episode of Pioneer woman when she didn’t have time to go to the store so had to use what she had on hand…she opened her pantry and fridge and I just laughed thinking “she has more in her pantry and fridge than I do even after I grocery shop”..lol..I’d love to have her “use what I have on hand pantry/fridge contents!
OMG my head just fell off. I’m in love with this.
I need to get my hands on that whole wheat no boil lasagna. That would make lasagna happen more often around here that’s for sure! I love impromptu entertaining, I feel like that tends to be the type we have in our season of life right now. We had a semi last minute New Years Day get together with a big portion of family (16 of us!) and I sent out a note saying it was a chili party (got the idea from you!). 3 of us made chili, some brought chips, cornbread, drinks, dessert. It was a wonderful combined effort from all of us and we loved trying each other’s food.
Your veggie lasagna looks perfect Sandy!
Love this veggie lasagna and working with what is in your fridge is my favorite way to cook!
Impromptu entertaining is always the most fun, you don’t have time to sweat the small stuff. Love this lasagna, so comforting and delicious!
Your lasagna looks wonderful. Thanks for the shout-out for my Meatless Monday category! I just pinned this to my Meatless Monday board and realized you might like that board, so I sent you an invite!
I am all over this veggie-packed lasagna!! My boys would go nuts for this too!
I’m excited to hear about the no boil noodles AND they are whole wheat. I’ll have to check around to see where I can buy them in Portland. Thanks, Sandy.
This looks delicious! I made a huge pot of chicken and rice soup with carrots and celery and ended up inviting 4 people and taking leftovers to a lady at our church that had recently had surgery! It was perfect for a cold evening!
I often find that impromptu entertaining makes for the most memorable evenings, probably because there are built-up expectations. This roasted veggie lasagna would be the perfect meal for any occasion. Beautiful, Sandy!
Beautiful lasagna to entertain with! Happy Monday Sandy!!
Your lasagna sounds delicious!