Saturday, August 4, 2018

Vegan Stuffed Zucchini Boats


vegan Stuffed zucchini www.realfoodblogger.com

Stuffed zucchini makes a great summer side dish that's easy, healthy, and tasty.  I used yellow zucchini but of green works just as well and they taste just about the same.




Our local farmer's markets and CSA's are overflowing with the green and yellow varieties right now.
They were actually selling this prolific vegetable for 3 for just one dollar !

zucchini


Despite their larger size, I felt compelled to buy some.

Zucchini boats are a good match for the larger overgrown zucchini that seem to be too large for most other recipes.

overgrown zucchini



I made a stuffing from a variety of healthy vegetables. 
I used onions, garlic, frozen spinach, frozen cauliflower rice, cooked black beans and of course the inside scrapings of the zucchini. For extra flavor, I used a cup of salsa which gives the recipe it's flavor and a mild kick ( you could use medium or hot salsa if you want a greater kick) .

I've been substituting riced cauliflower for regular rice in many of my recipes. I love the taste and texture and don't miss the carbs and calories. I used to make my own , ( which is easy but messy)
 but now I find I like the bags of frozen riced cauliflower just as much. Trader Joe's sells bags of frozen organic cauliflower for just $1.99 and the brands like Birds Eye and Hanover are available in the regular supermarket.



Surprisingly this entire recipe has a value of zero points on Weight Watchers. This means the recipe is low in calories but high in fiber and nutrients! Perfect if you want to keep you weight down.

The recipe is vegan, Weight Watcher's friendly , gluten free and delicious.

Sometimes I sprinkle gluten free Panko bread crumbs over the top of each zucchini boat and count it accordingly for WW.

I served this as an entree to company along with steamed sweet potatoes that I made in my Instant pot ( 25 minutes and release steam for medium sized sweet potatoes), tossed salad, and homemade rolls ( recipe to be published tomorrow) and some my gingered Asian broccoli .

Where is the protein? It's the black beans in the zucchini boats. If you need more protein just pile on additional cooked hot black beans on top of the zucchini boats when serving. I made the black beans in my Instant Pot. It was easy and they are creamy and delicious.

So if you have a bumper crop of zucchini and find that some are overgrown, this is a perfect way to use them up!

Author: Judee Algazi @ Gluten Free A-Z Blog
Prep Time; 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes + 10 minutes bake time

Ingredients:

2 large overgrown zucchini
2 cups of chopped onion
Scrapings of the inside of the zucchini, chopped
3 cups frozen cauliflower rice
2 cups frozen chopped spinach
1 cup of cooked black beans
1 cup salsa
Himalayan salt and cracked pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Slice zucchini in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to score around the edges of the zucchini and then scrape out the insides. Chop to bite size and set aside.

In a large skillet saute the onion and scrapings of zucchini in 1/2 cup of vegetable broth or olive oil spray for 3 minutes.  Add cauliflower rice, spinach and 1 cup of salsa cook for about 6 minutes. Add cooked black beans, salt and pepper. Mix well and use to stuff the empty zucchini. There will be leftover stuffing which can be eaten as a side dish too. Place in a baking pan and bake in the oven at 375 degrees until the zucchini shells are soft ( about 10 minutes) .




Please visit Nancy at a plant based blog called 
Colors 4 Health who says :
"Evidence is mounting that people who follow a whole food plant-based eating plan (WFPB), enhance their mental and physical health"-  

Nancy has shared some great tips about plant based eating and has shared some interesting plant based recipes including my vegan stuffed zucchini.. 








My Notes: 
1. Sprinkle to tops of each squash with gluten free Panko bread crumbs if desired
2. Sprinkle with cheese before baking if you are not vegan or use vegan cheese
3. This is an oil free recipe if you use vegetable broth to saute

Other zucchini recipes
1. Zoodles in Pesto Sauce- vegan 
2.  Creamy Zucchini Soup - vegan

Shared on Beth Fish Read's Weekend Cooking where anyone can share a food related post. Lots of food related book reviews


19 comments:

  1. Interesting that you've given this a southwest flavor profile with the salsa -- I associate stuffed vegetables with middle eastern flavors like dill, currants, pine nuts, za'atar, and the like. There are vegan versions but maybe they wouldn't be ok for Weight Watchers. With all those zero-point meals you must be wasting away!

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  2. Mae,
    I've lost 6 pounds in 2 and half weeks and have been eating super healthy meals! I am very pleased- I have 10 more pounds to go to reach my goal, so you will probably see more low calorie meals coming up. I love your humor- can't stop laughing.. Have a great week!!!

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  3. I love stuffed zucchini boats - first made them from The Moosewood Cookbook, and it's always great to find variations!

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  4. This sounds perfect for all those zucchini! I love the sound of the new WW program and it sure sounds like it's working.

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    1. Beth,
      Yes, it is working for me and is very flexible.

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  5. These look really delicious and I love the southwestern profile too. I have been loving cauliflower rice lately too--it's going to be in my soup tomorrow. ;-)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Deb,
      I had black beans left from a previous meal so I worked with them

      Delete
  6. Wonderful food that looks delicious and I bet tastes great. Salsa sure is a simple way to give food that kick that pleases our palates. Thanks for sharing this terrific recipe.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Nancy ,
      I appreciate you stopping by and your comments..

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  7. Stuffed veggies are always a favourite! Must try this veggie bean filling next time.

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    Replies
    1. I wanted it to be more of a main meal so I used beans. Everyone seemed to like it

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  8. Those boats look delicious. Want to try that again, as it’s been quite a while. Lately I’ve been rolling stuffing in our huge Pacific spinach leaves or collards.

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    Replies
    1. I haven't made stuffed cabbage or stuffed greens in years! It was always a favorite stuffing cabbage

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  9. Good idea to use the bigger ones - I did some smaller ones and they were very fiddly. Have a great week. Cheers from carole's Chatter

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    Replies
    1. The big ones give you plenty of filling to eat and truthfully what else could you do with such a big one

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  10. I don't know if we can get yellow zuchhini here.

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    Replies
    1. It doesn't matter if you use green or yellow. I just thought the yellow looked pretty

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  11. Zucchini boats are a great way to use zucchini! I've never seen yellow zucchini before, just yellow squash. They are pretty though. I looked them up and sometimes they're called golden zucchini, too. I've used striped green zucchini before and thought they were a bit sweeter. I don't think you can go wrong with any of them though. ;-)

    Shirley

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Your comments are appreciated. I love knowing who is stopping by to read my posts! Have a great day.

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