Z is for Zucchini Boats

Zucchini is remarkably easy to grow here in Colorado. In fact, it's sorta like a weed.

The only time I haven't had success with it was the year my neighbor accidentally poisoned my garden by spraying for weeds on a windy day. Bad neighbor!!

But I almost always end up with a surplus, and try as I might to harvest them when they're small, some inevitably get away from me.

So this past fall, when I was overrun with limb-sized zucchini, I decided to make zucchini boats.

This was one batch... I think I made 4 like this!

The recipe is very simple. You just cut the zuke lengthwise & clean out the seeds. Then you make a filling... your filling can pretty much be anything you like. Mine were all variations of beans & rice, with bits of whatever else needed using up. Some had ground beef, some had cheese, some used quinoa instead of rice, there were tomatoes, chives, onions & peppers as well.

The only rule of thumb for good filling is to add an egg to the mixture to help it hold together well.

Once you've got your filling made, you just spoon it lavishly into your zucchini boats, stick it uncovered in the oven for 40 minutes or so, and you're done.

I filled my chest freezer with several dozen of these.

I must say, I have been quite grateful to have them for a quick meal when things get busy... like, say, when you temporarily go insane and join an A-Z blogging challenge. The insanity is only temporary, isn't it? ISN'T IT?!?!?!?

Anyhow, the only downside to freezing these suckers is that when you defrost them a LOT of liquid comes out of the cooked zucchini.

My technique for dealing with this was to use a cheese grater to hold the thing together and then drain the excess liquid from the plate after nuking it in the microwave.

Perhaps not the most elegant solution, but it certainly worked. And once I melted some fresh cheese on top and added a hefty dollop of sour cream, you could hardly notice that it was a little bit smooshed!

So there you have it! Fast food CatLady style!

And with that, folks, I have officially completed my A-Z blogging challenge! Whew! I hope I haven't bored you all to tears. If I have, not to worry, I'll be taking a break for at least a few days because at the moment I am Z for Zonked!