gluten free healthified baked ziti

Remember the time when about 90% of the recipes I posted on FFF were oatmeal related or some sort of breakfast creation? Oh, those were the days.

I am longing for those days to come back to me. For oatmeal is my fist love. So sweet and delicious and ever so satisfying.

*snap out of it*

I have an awesome gluten free/healthified dinner recipe for you today that I promise you will adore.

As I was pondering through the noodle isle at Super Target, I came across some g/f brown rice noodles and instantly envisioned some sort of “Minnesota Hot Dish.” Ever heard of one of those? Hot Dish in Minnesota slang stands for casserole. Some classics include green bean casserole and potato casserole, usually made with canned creamed soup.

About that hot dish…I got about three feet away from the noodles section before I hit the spaghetti sauce, which switched my vision to lasagna.

Put the two together and you get a classic Italian Hot Dish: Baked Ziti!

I of course put a fit foodie twist to the recipe and made some changes.

-brown rice noodles instead of refined noodles

-cottage cheese instead of ricotta

-ground chicken instead of ground beef

To make the sauce, I sauteed a package of ground chicken. Then I added a jar of marinara sauce, diced mushrooms, and diced onions. I added some salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings.

After that I mixed it with about 3 cups of cooked brown rice noodles and 3/4 cups of cottage cheese. Then I sprinkled on some mozzarella and baked it at 375F for about 30 minutes.