Vegan Stuffed Zucchini Boats

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 !

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.

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