Zucchini on Steroids!

As much as I enjoy meat, meat, meat…I also enjoy a TON of veggies! Sometimes there is nothing better than to have a buffet of veggies for dinner. With that being said I have not always had the best of luck when cooking or even baking veggies. Look at my former failed experiments, zucchini chips, half baked potatoes, zucchini and carrot sticks… those were just baking. When I cook veggies I always feel I either over cook or under cook them, on top of that if I under cook them I tend to have an allergic reaction. I know it is weird, but I have a weird allergy to most raw fruits or veggies, it causes my mouth and lips to swell (Not the most attractive sight). But we must not be deterred from trying things out despite our conditions! What kind of life is that if we were?

Alright I will get off my soap box and tell you what I made. I am definitely proud of this recipe and we will be making it again in the future! I have always wanted to try to make stuffed anything. In my previous post you will see I have had a lot of success when it comes down to stuffing meat (I highly recommend any of the previous stuffed recipes) with veggies or cheese. Now I was ready to take stuffing to a new level! All these Pinterest post make things look so easy, and then when you actually try to make the item…well its actually NOT that easy. So I steered clear of Pinterest this time and went to the old trusty Food Network! Where human beings have actually cooked and successfully made the recipe!  (Side note about Pinterest- I love it and feel free to follow me at chelsgo- however I like to  be inspired to make things and then I go compare recipes to other ones…sometimes cooking is just common sense)

The other nice thing about Food Network is that you can type in your ingredients that you have and it will pull back dinner ideas, a great way to make nothing out of something! So I bundled up all my courage and became really daring one day to cook a stuffed zucchini! And boy did it turn out great!! This is a Paula Deen recipe, and despite all of her drama, when it comes to the kitchen she has some of the best recipes around. You don’t always have to take her heavy ingredients either, lighten them up. Use light sour creams or cheeses or sodium free butter. You’re the cook, take charge of your kitchen and your life!

The things I did differently in this recipe is that I only used one zucchini, there was only 2 of us. I used fresh spinach instead of frozen, fat free sour cream (you could also use greek yogurt) and only ½ cup of cheddar cheese.  I also added mushrooms and chopped them finely. I did have stuffing left over when I only used one zucchini, but that didn't detour us from eating it. It was that delicious! The recipe is below along with pictures from my adventures. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!

Stuffed Zuchinni

Ingredients

Finished Product with Pork Chop

• 5 large yellow squash, halved lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 1 cup chicken flavored stuffing mix
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Brush cut side of squash with olive oil; sprinkle with salt, and pepper. Place squash, cut side down, on a lined baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes, or until tender. Scoop out pulp, keeping shells intact; reserve pulp. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes or until transparent. To the skillet, add stuffing mix, spinach, sour cream, Cheddar and squash pulp. Mix together and add salt and pepper, to taste. Cook for 3 minutes. Spoon mixture evenly into squash shells. Place on baking sheet, and bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until heated through

Stuffed-Baked and Finished