Maggie's Vegan Zucchini Boats

This year, we doubled the size of the garden. With extra space, I was able to grow a greater variety of veggies and decided to grow zucchini. My zucchini is...prolific. Talk to many folks who grow zucchini and they'll tell you the same thing.

As it turns out, growing a ton of zucchini is a blessing and curse. I've made batches upon double-batches of zucchini bread. We've grilled more zucchini than any summer before. And as much as I love both of those options, we needed something else to do with zucchini. 

Given that zucchini grows well in most gardens, a google search for "things to do with zucchini" brings up list after list of options. A number of these lists included some kind of zucchini boat: a hollowed out zucchini stuffed with ingredients, baked to deliciousness. While I loved the idea, I didn't love any of the recipes I found. Most recipes were filled with cheese and/or meat, while some were nothing more than flavored rice - not what I wanted. 

Instead, I took the idea of zucchini boats and ran. Where I ended up is a delicious and healthy recipe, full of protein and garden-fresh summer flavors. Infinitely customizable, add or remove ingredients to make this into something you'll eat, if only to switch up how you're consuming zucchini. 

Maggie's Vegan Zucchini Boats

Ingredients

3 or 4 six-eight inch zucchinis (see Helpful Hints below)

2/3 c. uncooked quinoa

1 1/3 c. vegetable/faux chicken broth broth

1, 15 oz. can chickpeas

1 medium red onion, chopped

1-2 jalapenos, chopped

1, 15 oz. can plain tomato sauce

1 c. panko bread crumbs

1/4 c. nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp. salt

1 T. olive oil

Directions

1. Prepare quinoa as per package directions, using the broth in place of water. 

2. Meanwhile, cut the ends of the zucchinis and scrape out the seeds and preheat the oven to 350. 

3. Saute the onion and jalapenos in a small skillet. 

4. When the quinoa is done, mix the quinoa, chickpeas, sauteed veggies, and tomato sauce in a small bowl. 

5. Stuff the zucchinis with the mixture. You may or may not need all the zucchinis; some rounding of the filling is fine. 

6. Bake the stuffed zucchinis for 25 minutes (though see Helpful Hints below). While they are baking, mix the panko, nutritional yeast, salt, and olive oil with a fork. 

7. Cover each of the zucchinis with the panko mixture, then bake for another 10 minutes. 

Helpful Hints

• The size of your zucchinis really impacts how long they need to bake. Larger zucchinis are fine to use, but they will take longer to cook. Before you put the panko mixture on and bake for the last 10 minutes, you should check them for texture with a fork. You want them to be easily pierced with a fork. It is absolutely okay to cook the stuffed zucchinis longer, but only want to cook the panko mixture for about 10 minutes. 
• To save yourself time, make the quinoa ahead of time. Cook it while you're cooking another meal, then throw in the fridge until you're ready to make this. It will bake long enough to get hot. You can saute the veggies in advance, too! 
• If jalapenos are too hot for you, use half of a bell pepper. 
• Originally, I'd thought about including some dried spices, but I love this recipe without any. If you do want to add some, something like oregano would be great. I'd suggest maybe a 1/2 of a teaspoon. 
• The broth I use to cook the quinoa is soy-free. In addition, I have successfully made the topping with gluten-free panko breadcrumbs. It was great and made this gluten-free. 

The post "Maggie's Vegan Zucchini Boats" first appeared on Maggie's LesVegan Kitchen.