Stuffed Zucchini Boats

There is nothing better than spending time together with the family during summer over some amazing healthy food.  This visit we were not as prepared as we usually are so we used what we had on hand.  Left over quinoa, ground sausage, corn, left-over black beans and of course, zucchini fresh from the garden!  Thrown all together, this was a delicious lunch that cooked on the grill as we enjoyed the cool and refreshing pool!

The best part about throwing together recipes like this is the leftovers!  This will make enough zucchini boats to feed you for lunch and you can put the rest of the filling in the refrigerator.  What a quick filling for tacos with a topping organic Greek-style yogurt! 

Here is the recipe!  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

1 lb ground sausage
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup corn
1 cup cooked black beans
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Cheese of choice, optional
Zucchini (see tips)

Directions

Step 1:  Brown sausage in large skillet (leave 1-2 Tbsp of grease in the pan to help with flavor). Add quinoa, corn, black beans, salt and pepper to the skillet.  Mix well.

Step 2:  Slice the zucchini in half long ways.  Scoop out the middle of each zucchini slice, discarding the seeds and insides.

Step 3:  Fill each zucchini boat with your filling.  Top with cheese. Wrap each boat in tin foil (you may want to stick a toothpick in the middle to prevent the foil from sticking to the cheese).

Step 4:  Start your grill.  Turn on two burners both on the same side and place the foil wrapped zucchini boats on the opposite side or on the top rack of your grill.  Allow to slow cook for 20-30 minutes for smaller zucchinis and 50-60 minutes for large or "monster" zucchin's or until desired tenderness is reached.  Allow foil to cool before handling.

Tips:

- This filling is very versatile.  Use the amount of zucchini's you need and then save the filling for another meal.  Make tacos the next day with the leftovers but you could also put in eggs for a morning scramble, or on top of you salad. 
- If using ground turkey or other substitute, you may need to add additional seasonings such as cumin, thyme, rosemary, etc.
-  We used both smaller zucchini and "monster zucchini's" for this recipe. With the bigger ones, we had to eat it out of the skins due to the skin being to tough.  But both were excellent!
- If you have a gluten allergy, be sure to check the labels of your ingredients to make sure they are gluten free.