Taco-Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Taco-Stuffed Zucchini Boats (slightly adapted from Skinny Taste, Servings: 4, Total Time: 70 minutes)

Ingredients:

·         4 medium (32 oz.) zucchinis, cut in half lengthwise

·         ½ cup salsa

·         1 pkg. Morningstar Farms Burger Crumbles

·         1 tsp. garlic powder

·         1 tsp. cumin

·         1 tsp. kosher salt, or to taste

·         1 tsp. chili powder

·         1 tsp. paprika

·         ½  tsp. dried oregano

·         ½ small white or yellow onion, minced

·         2 Tbsp. red bell pepper, minced

·         8 oz. can tomato sauce

·         ½ cup taco shredded cheese

Directions:

1.)    Using a small spoon or melon baller, hollow out the center of the zucchini halves, leaving 1/4-inch thick shell on each half.

2.)    Chop the scooped out flesh of the zucchini in small pieces and set aside to add to the taco filling, squeeze out excess water with a paper towel.

3.)    Cook Burger Crumbles in a large skillet, breaking up while it cooks. When heated through. add the spices and mix well. Add the onion, bell pepper, reserved zucchini, and tomato sauce. Stir and cover, simmer on low for about 20 minutes

4.)    Preheat oven to 400°F. 

5.)    Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.

6.)    Drop zucchini halves in boiling water and cook 1 minute. Remove from water.

7.)    Place ½ cup of salsa in the bottom of a large baking dish.

8.)    Using a spoon, fill the hollowed zucchini boats dividing the taco mixture equally, pressing firmly. Top each with a sprinkle of shredded cheese.

9.)    Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes until cheese is melted and zucchini is cooked through.

I made some adjustments to the original recipe so that the meal would be vegetarian and to use the rest of a few of the ingredients that I had (for example, using 8 oz. of tomato sauce).  I used red bell peppers instead of green because I wanted to add a little extra color to the meal.  I recommend trying yellow or orange as well.  The resulting meal was fantastic!  The boats are Mexican through and through.  The zucchini got a little too mushy for my liking, but my husband loved it.  Using vegetarian crumbles really keeps the calorie count down.  To cut down on fat, you can also use a different type of cheese – I like taco shredded cheese because the flavor, in my opinion, is much bolder than Mexican shredded cheese.  Enjoy!

Jalapeno Popper Mac and Cheese

Jalapeno Popper Mac and Cheese (slightly adapted from Sweet Anna’s, Servings: 6, Total Time: 25 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 box (about 16oz) pasta - elbows or shells
·         1 Tbsp. olive oil
·         1 clove garlic, minced
·         3-4 large fresh jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced
·         1 cup water
·         ½ cup skim milk
·         8 oz. fat-free or Neufchatel cream cheese
·         2 cups shredded taco cheese
·         salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

1.       Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente.  Drain.
2.       While the noodles are cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and preheat the broiler of your oven to Low.
3.       In the heated skillet, drizzle in the olive oil & then add the jalapeños and garlic, sautéing until tender, about 5 minutes.
4.       Reduce the heat to low and stir in the water, milk & cream cheese, stirring often until melted and smooth. Turn off the heat and stir in the shredded cheese until melted. Taste and add salt & pepper to taste.
5.       When the noodles are done, toss them in with the cheese mixture and if your skillet is oven-proof place in the oven. If it is not oven-proof, place mixture into oven-proof dish and then pop into oven.
6.       Broil for 5-10 minutes, watching carefully, until the top is golden and the sauce is bubbling.
7.       Let sit for 5 minutes and then serve.

When I picked up my bi-weekly CSA bag, I had one large jalapeno, a habanero, and two red chilies.  My first thought was “What am I going to do with these since I just made salsa?”  As I’m sure you know by reading other entries, my husband is not in love with hot food – although he is better than he used to be, he’s still not up to my level of heat.  So, I went online to find something, anything, that would appease both of our palettes.  I saw this recipe and thought that it was a good option considering all of the dairy products – they would help dampen the heat down.  I made it two days after receiving my veggies.  Unfortunately, in that short time, my jalapeno rotted, but the habanero and the chilies were still good. 

I made a few adjustments to the original recipe to cut back on fat and calories – using skim milk instead of heavy cream, fat-free cream cheese instead of full-fat, and eliminating the parmesan and tortilla chips.  I think it turned out great – still very cheesy and tasty, with just a bit of kick.  My husband even liked it – and ate most of the leftovers!  A win in my book!  I used medium shells as the past, and I think that was a great idea because the cheese really coated the little openings to the pasta.  I will let you know that the cheese congeals when it cools.  Maybe using Neufchatel cheese instead of fat-free is good (fat-free also takes a while to melt down).  I like this dish and intend on making it again.

Roasted Beets 'n' Sweets

Roasted Beets 'n' Sweets (from AllRecipes, Total Time: 1 ¼ hours, Servings: 6)

Ingredients

·         3 medium beets, peeled and cut into chunks

·         2 ½ Tbsp. olive oil, divided

·         1 tsp. garlic powder

·         1 tsp. salt

·         1 tsp. ground black pepper

·         1 tsp. sugar

·         2 large sweet potatoes, cut into chunks

·         1 small sweet onion, chopped

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2.       In a bowl, toss the beets with ½ Tbsp. olive oil to coat. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet.

3.       Bake beets 15 minutes in preheated oven.

4.       While beets are baking, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and sugar in a large resealable plastic bag. Place the sweet potatoes and onion in the bag. Seal bag, and shake to coat vegetables with the oil mixture.

5.       Mix sweet potato mixture with the beets on the baking sheet. Continue baking 45 minutes, stirring after 20 minutes, until all vegetables are tender.

The original recipe called for 6 beets and 2 medium sweet potatoes, but I used the quantities above because that’s what was in my CSA bag this week.  This dish is pretty easy to make – just remember to wear gloves when you cut the beets or else your hands might turn an interesting red/purple color. 

The vegetables were very tender – soft, but still had just a little bit of bite to them.  That satisfied both my husband and me.  It obviously tasted sweet – I think that the dish could have done without the added sugar.  If you are set on using sugar, I recommend only ½ tsp.  I also found it very “peppery”, I recommend only using ½ tsp. of pepper.  Other than that, it needed no changes.  A sweet way to get some veggies into a meal!

Slow Cooker Indian Chikn Stew

Slow Cooker Indian Chikn Stew (slightly adapted from Better Homes & Gardens, Servings: 8, Total Time: 8-10 hours)

Ingredients

·         Nonstick cooking spray

·         2 packages Trader Joe’s Chickenless Chikn Strips, cut into 1-inch pieces

·         ½ cup onion, chopped (1 medium)

·         3 cloves garlic, minced

·         5 tsp. curry powder

·         2 tsp. ground ginger

·         ½ tsp. salt

·         ¼ tsp. ground black pepper and/or cayenne pepper

·         2 15 oz, cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained

·         2 14 ½ oz. cans diced tomatoes, undrained

·         1 cup water or vegetable broth

·         1 bay leaf

·         2 Tbsp. lime juice

·         1 9 oz. package fresh spinach

·         Hot rice (for serving)

Directions

1.       Lightly coat a 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Add Chikn, onion, and garlic to the slow cooker. Add curry powder, ginger, salt, and pepper; toss to coat. Stir in beans, tomatoes, water, and bay leaf. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.

2.       Stir lime juice into mixture. Stir in spinach and let stand for 2 to 3 minutes or until spinach starts to wilt. If desired, serve in bowls with hot cooked rice.

This was a simple dish that was low on preparation but high on flavor.  Not sure if it’s exactly one of the flavor profiles that I fall in love with, but it was still good and I would probably make it again.  The only changes that I made to the above recipe was using water in lieu of vegetable broth (we didn’t have any), cayenne pepper, and three small bay leaves instead of one bay leaf.  I also removed the leaves before serving (because that’s what I’ve read in other recipes).

The soup has just the faintest hint of heat (from the cayenne pepper.  I actually added some Sriracha to mine the first night because I wanted to amp up the heat.  It has a little sweetness to it as well, you can definitely make out the bay leaves and ginger in each bite.  The garbanzo beans cooked nicely, but I recommend using petite diced tomatoes – it might make the soup look a little neater (as opposed to having big chunks of tomato everywhere!).  I also recommend tearing the spinach leaves into small pieces because each bite I took, there was a string of wilted spinach hanging off the fork – not very appetizing, in my opinion.  If I make it again, I’ll probably add a bit more curry powder to increase the Indian flavor, and the cayenne pepper to make it something I like a little more.

All in all, not bad for a quick dish that I can let sit and stew all day!