{Recipe} Santa Fe Zucchini Boats

It's almost been three months since my last recipe post! It's time to get back on it. :) 

I love "Santa Fe" styled things. 

To be honest, I don't really know what makes something Santa Fe. All I know is that this beautiful combination of "Santa Fe" things include corn, beans, tomatoes, cheese and tortilla chips. (of course, it immediately becomes 100x better when avocado is thrown into the mix.)  Eugene and I came back from a cruise last week - and if you've ever been on a cruise, you know that there is a disgusting yet amazing amount of food. We ate so well and came back round and brown. Since then, we've been trying to "detox" and eat healthier. I've been looking for a lot of new healthy recipes to include into our recipe archive and I saw a good amount of zucchini boats. We're planning to do a carb-less meal a day and this makes for an amazing distraction from my usual craving for white rice, noodles and potatoes! 

This recipe is so quick and easy - I kind of want to make it every day! 

It's also great as a leftover and I'm sure it wouldn't be a bad idea to freeze a few of these babies for a rainy day. :) So let's get started!

Start with the basics. I would start with the garlic and onions first and allow some time for it to sauté. Then season your meat and brown it until your kitchen is filled with amazing smells.

Cut your zucchini and cut out the flesh. Does that sound violent? (I hate the word "flesh")

Chop up the zucchini flesh (eek!) into bite sized pieces and toss it in the pan. It's a good filler - healthy and juicy, too! 

Get ready to santa-fe your life with these essentials.

Toss em all together and add some cumin. This brings in an amazing chili flavor to your filling. Just a little goes a long way!

After your all done cooking, add in some freshly chopped cilantro. I usually wait to do this til the end since I'm not a huge fan of browned/cooked cilantro. 

Coat your zucchini with a fair amount of EVOO or coconut oil. Lay them down on a well-greased pan.

Add the fillers. Top with cheese. TOO EASY.

Your filling will make a good amount of juice. DON'T GO CRAZY - but feel free let some juice in the mix as this will help steam/cook your zucchini while baking. 

Throw it into the oven at 400 F for 20-30 minutes until the zucchini is fork tender. 

You can bake it on a baking pan with a foil cover if you'd like, but doing it on a cookie sheet + uncovered will allow the top to char a bit and give you that beautiful golden brown cheese crust. 

Some recipes will also instruct you to place the zucchini in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes prior to cutting the zucchini and removing the flesh. I've found that this step isn't really necessary so that cut some of the prep time. 

Eugene loved it and asked me to make it again soon!
We're gonna be having spring rolls and some cabbage wraps for dinner this week. Stay tuned. :)



Turkey Santa Fe Zucchini Boats
Recipe slightly adapted from SkinnyTaste
Serve 2-3


Ingredients

For the filling:

• 3/4 cup of lean ground turkey
• 1/2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 can of corn, rinsed and drained. 
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped (I used 1/2 can of fire-roasted green chili peppers from TJ)
• 1 large diced tomato (I used 2/3 can of diced tomatoes)
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 3 tbsp chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp cumin
•  kosher salt to taste

For the zucchini:

• 2 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise
• 15 tbsp shredded reduced-fat Mexican blend cheese

Halve your zucchini. Using a small spoon or melon baller, hollow out the center of the zucchini halves, leaving 1/4-inch thick shell on each half. Chop the scooped out flesh of the zucchini in small pieces and and set aside.
In a large skillet brown, saute garlic and onions in EVOO or CO. The turkey and season with salt. When the turkey is browned, add black beans, corn, peppers, diced tomatoes, reserved zucchini. Add cumin. Mix well and simmer on low, covered for 20 minutes. Remove lid and simmer an additional 5 minutes or until all the liquid reduces. Add cilantro and mix well. 

Place the hollowed out zucchini cut side up in a well-greased baking sheet or pan. Using a spoon, fill the hollowed zucchini boats dividing the filling equally, about 1/3 cup in each, pressing firmly. Top each with shredded cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes until cheese is melted and zucchini is cooked through.