When you're mean to me...

... I write about you in my blog. Derek Smith. o_O

In other news, I made stuffed zucchini today with veggies fresh from the garden. A woman I work with at the co-op brought in these mega-huge zukes-- I mean, these puppies were FAT. We're talking like, 3-4" in diameter fat. PERFECT for stuffing... and that's exactly what I'm gonna share with you today!

So if your zukes are really big (like 10" or more in length, and the aforementioned thickness), you probably only need 2 of them for enough to feed a family (or if you like to cook enough for yourself to have lunch for a week, as I do). Cut off the stem and the bit at the very bottom; then slice the zucchini in half lengthwise. Using an ice cream scoop (or a melonballer, or some other scoopy thing that you happen to have), scoop out the seedy part in the middle, making the space to be stuffed. I like to think of them as zucchini boats... 'cause they kinda look like boats at that point.

I used to use grass-fed ground beef or natural ground turkey for this, but I'm kind of not on a meat kick anymore so this recipe will not include such things. But if you are the meaty type, know that you have the option.

the Filling:

2 cups cooked brown rice (if you were using meat you would cut this down to 1 cup and add a cooked, crumbled, drained beef/turkey/chicken/etc.-- or you could fake it with some tofu crumbles!)
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 egg
1 cup cooked chopped spinach
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 or 2 minced (or pressed) garlic cloves
olive oil
salt and pepper
a pinch each of cayenne and nutmeg, sprinkle of basil and oregano
bread crumbs+grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup total)

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix everything together in a large bowl except the bread crumbs+cheese. Fill your zucchini boats with the mix, making sure to distribute it evenly. If there's extra, just mound it on top! They're called "stuffed" for a reason. :-D Once they're all stuffed as they can get, sprinkle a generous amount of the bread crumbs-cheese mixture over the filling, arrange them in a 9x13" baking dish, and pop them in the oven for about 35-40 minutes, turning halfway. When they're done, the tops will be nicely browned... remove them from the oven and let them sit for 5 minutes before serving. For sides, a nice basic salad would be good; just throw together some chopped Romaine lettuce, chick peas, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers with dressing of your choice and you're good to go!

Keep enjoying summer, kids.

Ciao!