Stuffed Zucchini for One

It’s hard not to eat all the filling before you pop these little beasts in the oven, but try, okay? Maybe you’ll be lucky and there will be some that doesn’t fit and you can scarf it down while the zucchini bakes. If not, you’ll enjoy it all the more for having waited!

1 medium zucchini

1 slice of onion, diced

1 mushroom, diced

1 TBLSP olive oil

1 TBLSP fresh parsley, chopped (or other fresh herb of your choice)

1 clove garlic, minced

5 or 6 snap peas, cut into ½-inch lengths

1/3 cup of cooked brown rice (or white, whatever you have)

1/3 cup of faux ground meat (I like Yves, but they’re all pretty decent)

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup spinach leaves

1 ½ TBLSP faux sour cream

1 ½ TBLSP faux cheese shreds (I like Daiya mozzarella, but use whatever you’ve got)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

1. In a skillet, sauté the onion and mushroom in the olive oil until the onions are softened.
2. While the onions and mushrooms are sautéing, slice the zucchini in half lengthwise. Take a spoon or melon baller and scoop out most of the insides. Set the zucchini shells in a casserole dish that’s long enough for them to lie down flat, scooped-out side up. If you have a loaf pan, that will also make them cozy enough not to fall over.
3. Take the remaining zucchini innards and chop them up. Add them to the mushrooms and onions and keep on sautéing.
4. Add the chopped parsley and the minced garlic to the onions, etc. Add the snap peas too. Give everything a good stir. If necessary, add a TBLSP of water to the pan to prevent sticking.
5. Once the veggies are pretty soft, toss in the rice and the ground faux meat and crumble it up, distributing it well. Add the salt and pepper.
6. Once the rice and faux meat is warmed through, plop the spinach leaves on top and stir it in. Cook until the spinach is just wilted and then take it off the heat.
7. Add in the sour cream, and stir until everything is thoroughly coated. It’s not a HUGELY creamy sauce. It’s just politely creamy.
8. Put the mixed up veggies and faux meat into the cavity you excavated in the zucchinis that are now comfortably reclining in the casserole dish. Sprinkle with the faux cheese shreds.
9. Bake for 20 minutes, until the zucchini “boat” is soft enough to be fun to eat. If you let it get mushy, it will still taste good but won’t be pretty.

The salad in the image has red-leaf lettuce, jicama, radish, carrot, Mission figs, and some of Miyoko’s black ash cashew-based cheese. It’s not yet dressed in the image (too messy for the photo shoot), but I just sprinkled salt and pepper, garlic powder, and dried basil on it, and then drizzled balsamic vinegar over the top.