Mexican Stuffed Zucchini

I don’t know why I bought so many, but I ended up with eight zucchini from a farm stand the other day. I must have felt compelled because they were the first of the season. All of them were between 10 and 12″ long, so we are definitely going to get our zucchini fix this week.

That evening, I sliced up two for fried Zucchini. Yum-Yum! That’s probably our favorite Zucchini recipe and dare I say, sometimes it’s a complete meal for us. I usually try to fry extra, so that we have leftovers the next day.

But this Zucchini recipe is a close second on the favorites list. Lots of vegetables and healthy fiber.  This is the perfect meal for those of us watching our weight. It’s filling and delicious!

Mexican Stuffed Zucchini

This is so simple to put together, and I almost always have these ingredients on hand. You can adjust the ingredients to control the heat as needed. You could also add some cooked, browned hamburger to the mix if your family insists. No judging here!

I thawed a 2-cup package of cooked brown rice I had in the freezer and reheated it to serve on the side.

Ingredients

• 2 to 3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
• 2-3 large zucchini (about 12″ long)
• 1/2 bell pepper, sliced (I had an open jar of sliced roasted red bell peppers in the fridge leftover from making French Bread Pizza a couple of nights ago)
• 1/2 – 1 medium onion,  diced
• 1 Jalapeno, diced (I used a small pablano)
• 1/2 to 1 cup corn ( I had a 1/2 cup of leftover corn in the freezer)
• 1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
• 3/4 to 1 cup of salsa (I didn’t have any, so I used a can of diced tomatoes & homemade salsa seasoning)
• 1 to 2 teaspoons cumin, to taste
• 1 cup shredded cheese (Cheddar, Mexican Blend or Monterey Jack)
• Optional: sliced black olives & fresh chopped cilantro for garnishment

Directions

1. Wash and dice bell pepper, onion & jalapeno.
2. Heat oil in skillet in large skillet.
3. Saute both peppers and onions till almost done, 3-5 minutes.
4. Stir in beans, corn, salsa (or diced tomatoes) and seasonings, heat 5-10 minutes.
5. Wash and cut the zucchini in half length-wise. Scoop out the soft seeded middle.
6. Fill the zucchini boats with cooked mixture.
7. Place the stuffed zucchini on a greased baking dish.
8. Cover with foil and bake in oven at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes
9. Remove foil. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the zucchini.
10. Bake uncovered for 5 or 10 minutes until the cheese is melted. Broil for a few minutes, if desired.

Serve with rice on the side and maybe a little chopped lettuce and tomatoes. Garnish with sliced black olives and chopped cilantro. Maybe a dollop of sour cream….oh, yeah! Wish I would’ve thought of all that when I was serving dinner….

This was very good on it’s own, as pictured above, on my plate. But I knew Hubby would prefer some meat with his, so I had asked him to grill a few hamburger patties and onions on the indoor grill while the Stuffed Zucchini was baking.

This was one of those meals we got a lot of mileage out of. We had leftover Mexican Stuffed Zucchini for lunch the next day, and then had the leftover hamburger patties on buns, with baked beans and chips for dinner.

There was enough leftover rice and filling from the Stuffed Zucchini to make up a couple of small burrito bowls for lunch the second day. Add some chopped lettuce and tomato on the side to make it a nice size lunch portion.

Now off to think of another equally delicious meal to make with the last four zucchini.

Enjoy,

Robin

PS: Please do a me a favor and share on your favorite social media site. 🙂