Cooking With Whine: Half-Stuffed Zucchini

I am already overwhelmed with the amount of zucchini we have harvested. I am up to my eyeballs in it.

I did petition God to make this season more rainy. It’s all because of the watering. It can take me a good 30 minutes to an hour every morning, depending on how good we want and need to be with our plants on a given day.

Thankfully watering has been off my plate, and with all this rain, the garden bed is blowing up!

Lot’s of zucchini on hand. 

God knows I don’t find much joy in cooking. That’s the truth.

I should be better prepared, but most days I am not and end up dreading dinner time.

So I kept adding zucchini to my lentils over the last week. Then I gave some away. And then I refrigerated it. This way it’s lost in the fridge and I don’t have to cook it.

It’s not you zucchini, it’s me.

I don’t lack ideas, I lack motivation.

I have a medley of recipes for zucchini:

zucchini bread

roasted zucchini

zucchini brownies

zucchini cakes or fritters

zucchini stuffed with all sorts of meaty things

zucchini lasagna (my favorite)

I’m feeling like Bubba right about now.

Anyway, like I was sayin’, you can just grate it or slice it or cube it or whatever…. and freeze it until ready to use. lol!

All I’m saying is that the vegetable is so versatile and delicious. Especially when freshly picked from our own front yard garden.

Now I remember why I wanted it so badly!

So, I sucked it up and cooked most of it. 

I do love recipes that make and stash. The kind you can make in advance or make reserves for another day.

So this is where I took it (This recipe was adapted from Nancy Fuller):

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Put a pot of water and salt to boil. 

In the meantime brown the ground meat (I used turkey breast). No oil needed but some cooking spray won’t hurt. Or a tablespoon of olive oil if you’re worried about sticking. 

While all this other stuff is going on, remove the pulp with a basic teaspoon and turn them into little boats (mine are shown below).  Chop the pulp and set both aside for later.

Once the water has come to the boiling point, add the zucchini and allow to boil for ONLY one minute. Once removed, run cold water over it. We don’t want boats that are limp. I don’t think this is crucial for fresh zucchini but I wanted to boil my zucchini before I added it to the baking dish. All those bugs in the garden – eeew. I know, I’m weird. 

Add about 1/2 cup salsa to the bottom of the pan. Then place the blanched zucchini on top.

Meanwhile my meat has been browning. I added all the dry seasonings once the pink was gone and added the rest of the chopped veggies to my pan.

I like my onion to get some color before I add my wet ingredients.

Once I am satisfied, I add the wet ingredients and mix.

Cover pan and allow these to mingle for about 10-15 minutes. Taste for salt.

If satisfied with the flavor get ready to top your zucchini.

Depending on the size of your zucchini, you may need to top them with a 1/3 cup or more of the meat mixture. Once all are topped. 

Place a bit shredded cheddar on top of each. Cover with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes. I like firmer veggies. If you would rather your zucchini be more cooked, give them another 5-10 minutes. 

And done friends!

Served this with a little side of brown rice and since I have these on hand, lots of mater & cuke salad. Garden tomatoes are the best!

Half-Stuffed Zucchinis

• Servings: 6-8
• Time: 1hr 15mins
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Ingredients

• 4-6 zucchinis halves (cut lengthwise)
• 12oz Jar mild salsa (reserve 1/2 cup for baking dish)
• 1 lb lean ground turkey breast or ground meat of choice
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 small onion, minced
• 2 tbsp bell pepper, minced
• 4-6 oz can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup reduced fat Mexican blend shredded cheese, for topping
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions or cilantro, for topping

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Using a small spoon, hollow out the center of the zucchini halves.
3. Chop the scooped out flesh of the zucchini into small pieces and set aside to add to the filling, you may need to squeeze excess water with a paper towel or allow to drain in a colander for a few minutes.
4. Drop zucchini halves in boiling water and cook 1 minute. Remove from water and run cold water over them for another minute.
5. Place 1/2 cup of salsa in the bottom of a large 9″x13″ baking dish.
6. Place cooled zucchini on top of salsa.
7. Brown turkey in a large skillet, breaking up while it cooks. When no longer pink add the dry spices and mix well.
8. Add the onion, bell pepper and reserved zucchini. Allow the veggies to cook for about 4 minutes.
9. Add tomato sauce and water. Stir and cover, simmer on low for about 15-20 minutes. Taste for salt.
10. Top using a spoon. Fill the hollowed zucchini boats dividing the taco meat equally, about 1/3 cup in each, pressing firmly.
11. Top each with 1 tablespoon of the shredded cheese.
12. Top with scallions.
13. Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes until cheese is melted and zucchini is cooked through.

Buen Provecho! recipe courtesy of http://www.togetherisourfavoriteplacetobe.com

Any zucchini recipes you plan to stir up this summer? Would love to know. I think I may need them 😉