A Lasagna that will get you through anything

I have an old blue folder that I bought my freshman year of college, originally intended to keep information on a place I used to volunteer at. This folder eventually started to store collected recipes that I found online, in magazines, and clippings that my mother would send me. Some of these recipes have scrawled notes next to them, ones have oil splatters, some are torn, and all are yellowing with age. This folder has grown over the years to contain over 80 saved and found recipes, mostly vegetarian as during college I was one of those "I do it because I care" vegetarians (man, I used to think I was SO cool)...who broke the rules and ate fish once in a while.
The recipes contain risottos, quesadillas, pie crusts (use cold water!), hearty bakes, soups, sauces, stews, cookies, and one particular lasagna recipe. I found this recipe when I was going through that whole self-discovery phase, where suddenly being a cook and experimenting with food sounded better than writing and reading and waxing philosophical on the Empirical Therories of Communication Phenomena.
This was a Black Bean Lasagna recipe, pulled off of the allrecipes.com website. I've made this lasagna during finals week, after a long day of being an Orientation Leader, after long days that included 16 credits worth of classes, when I was having a good or a bad day, one time for an unimpressed guy I was dating (he was an avid meat-eater), for many friends, and of course - while I was unemployed after college. I think what I liked about it mostly was the process. Cooking the lasagna noodles, simmering the beans, mixing the Ricotta and eggs all while listening to Death Cab for Cutie and figuring out how to expound upon my thoughts on whatever thesis it was I was working on. It serves well for a dinner party, gives you about a week of leftovers if you are by yourself, and you can make this for under $10!
I've made this so many times, that I've given it my own twist, but since this is from a website, and an original poster had to post this - I guess I should give "Carol" a nod. Cheers, Carol.


Black Bean Lasagna

9 Lasagna noodles
1 Pint part skim ricotta cheese
1 Egg
1/2 chopped red onion
1/4 chopped green bell pepper
1/4 chopped red bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans black beans (or try kidney beans!)
1 can tomato sauce
1 large tomato (try heirloom), diced
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

In a large pot, boil the lasagna noodles until al dente (trust me!) and drain

In a bowl, blend ricotta cheese and egg - set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and coat a 3 Quart baking dish with cooking spray

In large skillet, saute onion, both bell peppers, and garlic until tender. Mash 1 can of black beans. Stir in mashed black beans, whole beans, and tomato sauce into skillet, and cook until heated through.

Arrange 3 lasagna noodles in bottom of of the baking dish, and layer with 1/3 each of the ricotta mixture, black bean mixture, diced tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat twice. (Tip: keep the bottom heavy, the top lean. Therefore you won't have that crater in the middle of lava-hot cheese/lasagna mixture).

Bake 40-45 minutes in preheated oven. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and top with any leftover diced tomatoes.

Time from prep to mouth - about 1 hour, 20 minutes
Cost - Lasagna noodles - $1.50-$3, cans of black beans - $1.00-2.50, Tomato sauce - $.85, mozzarella - $3.50, Bell peppers (depending on season) $1.50 each, Ricotta - $2.50-$3.00