Zucchini Boats

Most of the time when I can't decide what to make for dinner, I will browse through a whole bunch of recipes - on this blog, online, in my ChefTap app - anywhere I can find a recipe. My boyfriend sometimes gives me a hard time, saying, "Are we going to eat tonight?"

In this case, I already had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do and I was just looking for some inspiration. A lot of the recipes I came across called for tomato sauce/paste, had loads of garlic (I miss garlic so much!), or were topped with cheese. All no-no's. I was going to have to come up with something on my own.

It seems like I usually use the same combinations of spices. Chili powder is almost always in the rotation. My guys have never complained that it's too "boring," so I guess I'll just go with it. Or, I might try a Spice of the Month. Discover a new flavor every month and learn how to incorporate it to change up the flavors of the dishes. That seems a bit too ambitious for me at the moment though.

The trick to scooping the zucchini seeds out and making the boat shells is using a melon baller. Mine is two sided - a small scooper and a bigger scooper - and it worked perfectly. If you don't have a melon baller you can use a spoon, but I assure you it will be more challenging. You want to scoop out enough of the insides to make room for the meat, but not so much that the little boats break. Also, be sure to pick the right zucchini. You don't want them too small, as there won't be any room to stuff them, but you don't want them so big that it's all meat. You know, avoid those zucchini that get left in the garden all summer and then you're all like, "Whoa! Monster zucchini!" Mid-sized is good. Look for zucchini that are fairly straight - if they're curved they're going to be more difficult to work with.

If you don't have some weird ass allergy to garlic, I HIGHLY recommend putting garlic in the sauce. The onion was a bit overpowering (I don't think I let it carmelize quite long enough), and I just know in my little heart garlic would have been a-mah-zing!

For the Boats
Ingredients:
4 medium zucchini
Drizzle olive oil
1/2 sweet onion, finely diced (save the other half for the sauce)
1 lb ground turkey
2 T. chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp parika
Ground black pepper
Hot water (if needed)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with foil.

Trim all but a little of each stem. Cut zucchini's in half lengthwise, taking care to make them even. Use a melon baller to scoop out the seeds and part of the flesh, leaving about 1/8 inch around the sides and bottoms. Save flesh.

Drizzle a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sautee until tender. Add ground turkey and stir until broken up, then add spices and continue cooking until cooked through. If sauce gets too thick (chili powder absorbs quite a bit of moisture) add a little hot water.

Arrange boats cut side up on prepared baking sheet. Scoop meat mixture evenly between boats, taking care not to let it spill over the sides. Bake for 20 minutes. While boats are baking, prepare your sauce.

For the sauce
Ingredients:
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
Drizzle olive oil
1 cup zucchini flesh from boats (save any remaining for another recipe)
Juice from 1 small lemon
1/2 avocado
1-2 T. honey
Sea salt & ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp paprika

Directions:
Drizzle a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat (I used the same skillet as for the meat mixture and just wiped the crumbs out with a paper towel). Add onion and bell pepper and sautee until carmelized. You can substitute garlic gloves for the onion if desired. Add zucchini and cook until soft.

Pour vegetables into a blender or food processor. Add lemon juice, avocado, honey, salt, pepper and paprika. Puree until very smooth. Add a little coconut or almond milk if mixture is too thick.

When boats are done baking, remove the from the oven. Spoon sauce over the meat (you'll probably have a little sauce left over you can use on another recipe). Return to the oven for five minutes until sauce is heated through. Let stand a few minutes before serving.