National Zucchini Day!!

Did you know it's National Zucchini day?!?!  Neither did I , but now we are all better informed :)

Image Credit: about.com

 In honor of National Zucchini Day, here is a delicious recipe from my friend Lauren.  I have yet to make this, but she says it delish and I completely trust her taste!

Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients:
2 large zucchinis
1 c. finely chopped green pepper1 c. finely chopped onion
finely chopped zucchini (whatever you scoop out to form the "boats")
1 c. bottled spaghetti sauce (i use prego)
2 c. shredded mild cheddar cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 lb. ground beef
**to make this lower calorie, you can use low-fat cheese and ground turkey**

Directions:

First, prepare the zucchini by washing and cutting in half lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp. With a spoon, hollow out the zucchini by carving out enough zucchini flesh to leave it in "bowl" form, but don't penetrate the skin. Leave about 1/4" of zucchini meat so that it won't fall apart when it's cooked.

In a large skillet, brown meat. Add the chopped veggies (pepper, onion, and zucchini) and cook until tender. Drain fat and water from skillet and add seasonings. Add the spaghetti sauce and simmer until hot.

In a roasting pan filled with 1/2" of water, place the zucchini boats side by side and fill each boat with the meat & veggie filling generously. Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until zucchini is soft. (You can also cook it in an electric skillet on 225 degrees if you don't want to hear up the house during the summer!) Once zucchini is tender, remove the foil, cover boats with the cheddar cheese, and finish off in the oven until cheese is fully melted.

**I used to serve this with white rice, but to make it more WW friendly, I skip the rice and just eat a bigger portion of the zucchini since it's mostly "free" veggies anyway!!**

Happy Eating! :)