Healthy Zucchini Boats

emilykitchennutrit
Sep 21, 2017
2 min read

Healthy cooking takes hours to make, right? Wrong! These zucchini boats are filled with ground turkey, cheddar cheese, and veggies. They are quick enough for a week night dinner and the leftovers are great for lunch the next day. And best of all: the are a low car, high protein alternative to our favorite burritos and tacos.

Ground Turkey Zucchini Boats

Yield: 8 servings

Preheat oven to 350

Ingredients:

4 medium zucchini (7-8 inches long)

2 Tbs olive oil

1 lb lean ground turkey

1/2 large white onion

2-3 medium carrots

1/2 red bell pepper

3/4 cup tomato sauce

3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 Tbs chili powder

1 tsp cumin

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Methods:

Cut each zucchini in half lengthwise and remove the center with a metal spoon. By removing the core of the zucchini you will be creating to boat to hold all of the delicious filling. Be gentle as not the break the zucchini throughout the process. Save the core pieces of the zucchini for later.
Dice the onion, carrots, and bell pepper into a small dice. In addition, roughly chop the core of the zucchini.
In a large sauce pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
Saute the onions and carrots until lightly brown (3-5 minutes).
Add the ground turkey and saute until browned and cooked thoroughly, use this time to break to ground turkey into small pieces (7-9 minutes).
Add the pieces of zucchini core, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook for about 1 minutes and then add the tomato sauce. Cook for about 3-5 minutes to incorporate all the flavors.
Remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in 1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese until fully incorporated and place to the side
In an 9x13 baking dish place the zucchini boats and brush lightly with olive oil. Spoon the ground turkey mixture into the zucchini boats and top with salt and pepper to taste and then sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of shredded cheese.
Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the the tops are nicely brown.
Serve each zucchini boat by it's self or with 1/2 of rice or quinoa on the side.