The quest of healthy eating continues. Why oh why aren’t cookies healthy?!
There is reason to celebrate eating healthy in our house, though. Mark’s “meatatarian” mantra has softened a bit recently and the man likes more vegetables! This is where you picture me standing on a mountain top in a victorious manner celebrating the addition of veggies to his repertoire.
He really likes zoodles, zucchini noodles spiral sliced and sauteed. He likes zucchini grilled and sauteed slices, dare I try it a new way? The answer is a resounding YES!
I’ve really wanted to try more dishes with zucchini but have been hesitant. I’ve been toying with making lasagna with thinly sliced zucchini serving as the noodles but Mark isn’t big on ricotta cheese. What the heck, I’m going to jump in. If he doesn’t like it, then I’ll have all the leftovers to myself.
These stuffed zucchini boats are shockingly easy to make. Really good, too. Guess what? Mark loved it! I mean loved it like, when can we have this again loved it. To quote Charlie Sheen, “Winning!”
Let’s go boating!
After you’ve washed your zucchini, slice the ends off then slice them down the middle lengthwise. Scoop out the meat inside and set aside. Our zucchini was a little firm so I diced up the meat.
You can either line your green boats on a baking sheet lightly oiled or lined with parchment paper. I oiled a baking dish and it worked fine.
Now for the filling.
Heat oil in a skillet and cook the onions until they begin to golden. Mark is new to liking onions so I cooked much longer than 2-3 minutes. He likes his onions how In-n-Out makes them for his double-double. Me, I’m good any way I can get onions. When the onions are done to your liking, add garlic and cook for several seconds. Add the meat and cook until it’s no longer pink. We use ground turkey but you can use any ground meat you’d like. When it’s done, add the marinara sauce, zucchini insides, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Let that simmer for 8-10 minutes. It smells heavenly.
Spoon the mixture into your fancy green boats and top with cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Our firmer zucchini meant cooking closer to 20 minutes. I think a really ripe zuch will be ready in 15.
I wasn’t fully prepared for him to love it but wow, total new food success. While we were eating, we brainstormed other filling combinations. This would be really good Mexican style subbing out the marinara for salsa. I think using ground chicken or diced chicken with mushrooms and an alfredo sauce would be amazing. We could even make it more like a pizza with ground sausage and diced pepperoni for the meat. Mark kept nodding and eating.
As easy as it was to make, this would be ideal in your RV and perfect for those nights when you can’t use the grill for dinner. But, these might be amazing on the grill! Place the boats directly on a greased grill. Your little boats will have fancy grill marks on the bottom.
Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Recipe Credit: Gimme Delicious
- 6-8 medium zucchini (or 12 small)
- 1 pound ground beef or turkey or chicken or ground meat of your choice
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
- 1 cup low fat shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 375.
Slice zucchini in half lengthwise and carve them out, making boats. Chop the zucchini meat and set aside. Line up boats on a lightly greased baking sheet (or baking dish) or line them up on parchment paper.
Heat oil, add onions and cook 2-3 minutes or until golden. Add garlic and stir with onions for several seconds. Add meat and cook until no longer pink. Drain grease if necessary. Add marinara, zucchini meat and seasonings. Simmer 8-10 minutes.
Spoon meat mixture into boats and top each with cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes until cheese is bubbly and zucchini is soft enough to easily cut.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container.