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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Stuffed and Grilled Zucchini Boats


I bought some zucchini at the farmer's market last week with the intention of making zucchini bread. However, then I remembered that I'd seen stuffed zucchini recipes floating around and I instead decided to come up with my own concoction. I know some people stuff their zucchini and bake it in the oven, but I'm determined to take advantage of the grill for as long as we can, so that's what we opted for!

These turned out really good, especially considering the fact that I didn't follow a recipe (usually only Ryan has success with that cooking technique!). When I do it again, I will probably try to season the ground turkey more. I'd also squeeze the water out of my zucchini after I shredded it; my filling was a little watery. The great thing about these is their versatility...you can stuff these with whatever you like!

Here's how I did it...

Ingredients:
2 large zucchini, sliced in half longways
1 lb ground turkey
~2 cups fresh spinach
1 large tomato
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
garlic powder
dried onion flakes
dried basil

Directions:
1. Slice your zucchini in half and dig the innards out with a spoon so that each of the halves looks like a boat (set the zucchini innards aside for now)
2. Brown your turkey in a pan on the stove. While your turkey is browning, grill the zucchini halves face-down for about 5 minutes.
3. In a food processor, slice the insides of the zucchini as well as the tomato. (Here's where I would remove the water from the zucchini/tomato by placing it in a paper towel and squeezing)
4. Add the spinach, zucchini, and tomato to the ground turkey. Season with the garlic, onion, and basil and continue to heat until spinach is wilted.
5. Remove the turkey mixture from heat and use a spoon to stuff your zucchini with it.
6. Return zucchini to the grill for approximately 8 minutes. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and grill for an addition few minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Zucchini, hollowed out and grilled

Turkey/Veggie Mixture


Stuffed and ready for a 2nd grilling

As you can see, these are relatively easy, not to mention healthy and quick! The whole dinner, start to finish took less than 40 minutes!