Tasty Thursday: Stuffed Zucchini

Hello friends! Today's tasty recipe comes to you from SkinnyTaste.  I've recently discovered this website and Gina has a lot of great recipes that taste good and are good for you, too!  I was inspired by her Turkey Stuffed Zucchini recipe and modified it slightly to fit my pantry and tastes.  

We had this for our Valentine's Day dinner.  It was a bit involved, so I wouldn't recommend adding it to your daily arsenal, but it is tasty for special occasions!  

Here's your nutritional information:  1 half, stuffed: 241 calories, 298 mg sodium, 9 g carbs, 23 g protein

Ingredients:

2 medium zucchini

1 tsp butter (or butter substitute)

1/2 c. finely diced onion

3 cloves garlic

1 oz. white wine

10 oz 85% lean ground beef

1/4 c. egg substitute

1 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

1/2 c. beef or chicken broth

1 slice low calorie bread (like Village Hearth)*

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp marjoram

1 tsp basil

salt and fresh pepper

*You can also use bread crumbs.  I use a slice of frozen bread that's low calorie and turn it into bread crumbs, using a food processor or hand blender.  I have yet to find bread crumbs with as low of a calorie count as my own invention.

I always use my Vidalia Chop Wizard when I'm chopping vegetables - it saves my fingers and time!  If you don't own one, I highly recommend getting one!

Preheat your oven to 400.  Cut the zucchini in half and hollow them out like boats, leaving about 1/4" edge.  Chop the scooped out zucchini into smaller pieces.

In a frying pan, melt the butter and add in onions and garlic.  Cook on medium-low until onions are cooked through.  Add in zucchini and a bit of salt, cook for another 3 minutes or so.  Add wine and cook until the wine has reduced.  Add in ground beef, season as necessary.  Cook until beef is cooked through.  Add in the remaining spices and cook for at least another minute.

When your mixture has cooled (or at least, stopped being so hot!), add the Parmesan and egg substitute, and mix well.  Fill the hollowed out zucchinis with your mixture, pressing down as necessary.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs.

Pour broth into the bottom of your baking pan and then place zucchini in.  Cover pan with foil and bake 35 minutes.  Zucchini walls will be flexible and mixture will be heated through.

Makes 4 servings.

Enjoy! Even my hubby, who's not a huge fan of diverse vegetables, gave these a try and enjoyed them!  Plus, they really are filling - I thought I'd eat 2 for dinner, but was full after one and a side!