Veggie-Stuffed Zucchini

Recipe adapted from The Happy Go Lucky Vegan

I'm not a big fan of peppers (actually, I just plain don't eat them- they upset my stomach) - so I was pretty excited to try a variation to stuffed peppers. I actually really loved the filling in these- it was flavorful and delicious! I ended up making extra filling and having it for lunch, and also using the sauce on a stir-fry the next night too.

The sauteed filling: I added chard & asparagus to the original recipe.

Ingredients: for 2

• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  
• 2 large zucchini (I used 1 zucchini and 1 summer squash since I love squash!)
• ~1/2 cup finely diced carrots
• ~1/2 cup finely diced celery
• 2 cups chopped spinach (or Swiss chard, or a combo- which is what I did)
• 1/4 cup chopped cashews or peanuts
• 1 Tbsp oil (for pan)
  
• 2 tsp tamari or soy sauce
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 1/8-1/4 tsp sirracha, or to taste
• Optional: other veggies, such as a few chopped spears of asparagus, or water chestnuts or green beans.

Prepped & ready for the oven!

Steps:

1. Mix the sauce: soy sauce, vinegar, and sirracha.
2. Prep all veggies: chop celery, carrots, and leafy greens. Cut the zucchini in half and use a Tbsp or spoon to scrape out the seeds & middle. You can save this middle, roughly chop, and use it in the stuffing. (I recommend adding a spoonful of the sauce to each halved-out zucchini and letting it soak in while you prep the other veg).
3. Preheat oven to 350.
4. Heat oil in saute pan and cook the garlic for ~1 min. Add carrots, cook 2-3 min, then add celery & zucchini chopped insides, cook 1 min, then add the greens and cook ~2min. Add the sauce, and cook a few more minutes, until greens are wilted. Don't overcook the veggies, as they will cook more in the oven; but the carrots should be slightly tender. (NOTE: I also added some chopped asparagus - I cooked them separately, until almost done, and added them to the stuffing before putting it the oven. It was a good addition).
5. Place the zucchini halves on tinfoil-lined cookie sheet, and spoon in the veggie filling. Wrap the stuffed zucchinis loosely in the tinfoil, and cook ~15-20 minutes until zucchini is tender, depending on the size of your zucchini (for the squash I used, I only cooked for about 15 min, since it was smaller)

The verdict: a good recipe, but despite the filling being flavorful, overall it came out a little bland. It may be my zucchini was too big, but I think, as noted above, it would help a lot to pour a little sauce into the hollowed-out zucchini prior to adding the stuffing, and let it soak in while you are prepping the stuffing. The sauce & stuffing were delicious and flavorful, so really it just needed to soak into the base better.

My husband and I also decided, next time: 1- sub the tamari for regular soy sauce (we're not gluten free, and the tamari tastes a little off), 2- use peanuts instead of cashews (the cashews I used didn't have any flavor, and I really think peanuts would bring out more here). Also, we thought adding a little peanut sauce for more flavor would be good- try drizzling a bit over the top. I could also up the sirracha a bit more- I played it safe and just used maybe 3-4 drops, but next time, I'm adding more!

Looking forward to trying this again! Thanks to Jesse at Happy Go Lucky Vegan for the recipe inspiration!