Desperation in the Kitchen: Gabe's Favorite Zucchini Boats

I've always been kind of indifferent toward zucchini, except that I really like it sauteed with tomatoes. (and I'm the only one in the family who likes it that way)

And then this summer, everybody seems to have had a bumper crop of zucchini, so what the heck do I do with it all?

Well, I made a lovely chocolate chip-zucchini cake, and that was awesome, but I got sick of shredding zucchini. (For those who cannot imagine why on earth I would get sick of shredding zucchini, try it sometime) I've made zucchini pizzas, and those are fine, too, but I've always wanted to try my hand at making zucchini boats.

I made a practice run of said boats yesterday (because, dude, ya'll, we have a LOT of zucchini) and when I called Gabe at work to let him know that's what he'd have for dinner, he asked "Is there going to be meat on those zucchini boats?"

Yes. There's meat.

And they are delicious, and he loves them. (It's why they're GABE'S favorite zucchini boats, after all)

Here goes.


Here's what you need:

Some large zucchini
Ground beef (I used less than a pound, but you can certainly use more)
salt, pepper
olive oil
salsa
cheese

Here's what you do

*Wash your zucchini. Cut the ends off, and slice in half lengthwise.

*Using a spoon, scoop out the pulp. When you're done, it should look something like....

...see above

*Chop the zucchini pulp, and put the zucchini "boats" in a baking dish.

*Take a moment to thank a cat for her thorough inspection of the zucchini, and for not eating them.

*Brown and drain ground beef. Add salt, pepper, some olive oil, and the zucchini pulp.

*Add salsa. (the original recipe called for tomatoes, onions and peppers, but salsa has all that stuff and is so much faster)

*Stuff the boats with the meat/zucchini/salsa mixture

*Bake at 375 for 15 minutes

*Sprinkle with cheese

*Bake til cheese melts. Yumminess!!!