I'm one of those people who never gets enough zucchini. Lots of gardeners joke about ditching their extra bounty on a neighbor's porch in the middle of the night. Boy, I wish I was the receiving neighbor, haha! We have two plants, along with other squash varieties growing in the garden this year. It's delicious when you cut it into medallions and simply steam it. Then, throw some butter, garlic salt, and fresh black pepper on top. Or skip the butter and squeeze fresh lemon juice on it. OK, now my mouth is watering.
My husband, JJ, is not a zucchini nut like me.
This summer, I wanted to make something that JJ would like, and would also compliment the keto diet I had started. Something with a ton of flavor. Something we had never eaten before. We had a couple of larger zucchini to use. You DO know that they grow like a foot a day, right? (haha, not really, but if you have ever grown it, you can totally relate)
We had some frozen leftover taco meat in the freezer. Not much, maybe a cup or two. We always have blocks of cheese on hand. There was a little bit of sour cream in the fridge. I thought, "Hmmm. What if I stuffed the zucchini with taco flavors and components?"
I took out a skillet, added the meat, and threw in some mild red enchilada sauce for a twist. "Hmmm, some mild green chiles would be good, too!" I opened and drained a small can of mild Ortega green chiles into the heating meat mixture. Added a splash of water to keep the meat from getting too dry, put a lid on the pan, and turned the stove down to medium-low. Preheated the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, cut the ends off of each zucchini, and sliced them lengthwise in half. Grabbed a melon-baller, and scooped enough pulp to leave a strong enough shell to hold the mixture and some cheese. I saved the pulp and froze it to add to spaghetti sauce in the future. It thickens the sauce and you don't even know it's there!
Grated some cheddar cheese. I NEVER use bagged, pre-shredded cheese, because it has a pulp coating that prevents it from clumping in the bag. Yuck. Plus, it doesn't melt properly. I digress.
Lined a baking sheet with a silicone mat. Laid the zucchini on the mat, and put a scant amount of shredded cheese on the bottom of the zucchini boats to keep the grease from the meat from sogging the zucchini.
I just created a new word! Sogging. Because I can.
Blotted the meat a little bit with a paper towel so it wasn't too greasy. Cheese puts a little oil out, and I feared that the two might make it kind of weird. filled the boats to the top rim of the zucchini - didn't mound it, or it would get messy. Baked it for about 20 minutes, until the zucchini was heated through. Depending on the size of the zucchini and the relative thickness of the boat "walls", time needs to be adjusted. When I thought it would be perfectly heated, I added more shredded cheddar on top. Put it back into the oven until the cheese melted.
Removed the boats from the oven and let them cool for about 5-10 minutes. Put some sour cream and sliced cold green onions on top before eating them. They added a nice contrast to the heat. The cheese skirts on the plate? That's another blog. They make great taco shells. Yes, yes they do.
Oh, my GOODNESS!
The taco boats were SO delicious. They're now requested by JJ at least twice a month!
Check this video for step-by-step instructions: https://youtu.be/J_3YHIbBnVo
It is SO good. Give it a try! Be kind, everybody. Have a great day!
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