Southwestern Zuccini Boats

Recipes

Over the past few months, I have been thinking a lot about where I want to take this blog. It has continued to develop over the last year, and I have come to a conclusion. It is time to move away from sweet recipes. As I have mentioned before, I believe in balance, so I will continue to make them. However, I think it is best if I channel down the sharing, and focus on the healthy meals. A sad, sad day, but I will always be running from my insatiable sweet tooth! I hope you will support me in my decision, and I look forward to developing my cooking skills.

Around this time of year, there is an abundance of zucchini, and although I have seen plenty of zucchini boat recipes, I have not yet seen one with many of the other veggies that are also in season. I am currently reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and it is making me want to try to stick to fruits and vegetables that are in season, and as much as possible, purchase them locally. I also wanted to make something healthy to cook on the grill to go along with the excessive meat we usually consume in the summer!

Thinking about baked potato skins in restaurants, I thought I would make a healthier version and see how it ended up. I have to say, I was very impressed (as were my guests). They cooked well on the grill, and paired perfectly with grilled chicken. Simple. Easy. Fast.

Southwestern Zucchini boats june 13 (1)

And there you have it, a beautiful, healthy side dish to go with your meat!

Southwestern Zucchini/Courgette Boats
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 medium zucchini/courgettes
1 medium tomato, diced
1 ear of sweetcorn (or 100g drained sweetcorn from a can)
½ small bell pepper, diced
½ small red onion, diced
¼ cup/100g black beans
¼ cup/28g shredded cheese
1 Tbsp cilantro/coriander, chopped
½ tsp cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Cut the zucchini/courgette lengthwise so it is in two halves; lay the cut side down on a microwaveable plate with a layer of water underneath. Microwave for 2-3 minutes and check, it should be tender, but not quite fully cooked. Leave to cool for a few minutes.
If you are using an ear of corn, cover with a wet paper towel and microwave for 2-3 minutes until tender, leave to cool.
Mix together the tomatoes, peppers, onions, beans and corn.
Carefully scoop out the inside of the zucchini leaving a ½ cm border around the edge and on the bottom.
Dice the pulp from the middle and mix into the filling.
Add the cilantro/coriander, cumin, salt and pepper and stir till fully coated. Spoon the mixture into the “boats” so it is heaping with filling.
Gently move onto a sheet of tin foil and sprinkle cheese over the top. Carefully fold the foil over the top, making sure as little is touching it as possible.
Place on the cooler part of the grill and let cook for 20 minutes, gently open the foil to expose the boats and allow to cook for a further 10 minutes.
Remove from grill and allow to cool for a few minutes before enjoying!

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side dish, vegetable, vegetarian

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