Simple Zucchini Boat Recipe with Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzarella
If you are like me you are always on the hunt for delicious ways to use zucchini this time of year. Have the luxury of having a few zucchini plants of your own? Then you are swimming in the little veggies; perhaps you have the luxury of a neighbor who has a green thumb, chances are also good you are swimming in zucchini! No matter how you get these (the farmer’s market is loaded with them too which means they are inexpensive this time of year), having some good zucchini recipes up your sleeve is a must. Here’s a list of some of my favorite ways to use zucchini.
This zucchini boat recipe is one of our family’s favorites. I love it because it is super simple but tastes like you spent hours on it. It’s also a really easy dish to multiply and serve to a crowd. Fresh tomatoes are the perfect compliment to this summer dish and you just can’t beat a little fresh mozzarella. Now fresh mozzarella costs a bit more than its traditional counterpart, but don’t skimp out here. The fresh mozzarella melts so nicely and has just a little bit of chewiness to it that you don’t get from a traditional block of mozzarella cheese. Treat yourself… go for the fresh!
This simple side is sure to please just about any crowd and you can’t beat how it practically makes itself. Just be sure to find nice young, tender, and not too big zucchini. Super huge zucchini are inevitable now and again, but this isn’t the place to use them. If we find a zucchini hiding in the garden and much too big we’ll split it in half and feed it our hens, but here’s an even better idea. Collect a few huge zucchini and let you kids make boats out of them!
Start by having them carve from the top and some out of the middle. Now they can decorate and add sails by using sticks, leaves, and even flowers. We love taking our literal “zucchini boats” to the river and letting them set sail. Bonus points if you have access to a little waterfall you can crash them over! Such a fun end of summer tradition in our house.
Melissa cooks, confesses, and corrals chickens and children at Bless this Mess. Here you can find healthy recipes (with some simple desserts included). A peek at her hobby farm, and the joys of raising five little ones, eight years old and younger. She’s got a whole lot of mess to bless!
Simple Zucchini Boats with Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzarella
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini
- 1 dash salt
- 1 dash black pepper, ground
- 2 medium tomato, red
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano, dried
- 1/4 teaspoon vinegar, cider
- 5 ounce mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line rimmed baking sheet or baking dish with parchment paper.
- Cut the zucchinis down the middle, length-wise, and scoop out the seeds and flesh (save for another purpose), leaving about 1/2 an inch of the zucchini shell. Lay the zucchini halves, cut sides up, in the baking pan and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
- Remove the seeds and chop the tomatoes small. Add the oregano, vinegar, and more salt and pepper to taste to the tomatoes and then divide the tomatoes evenly among the zucchini.
- Bake the tomato stuffed zucchini until the zucchini is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- Slice the mozzarella thin and then tear it into 1 inch pieces. Place on top of the tomatoes.
- Broil the mozzarella until it starts to bubble and brown just a bit, taking care no to burn it. Remove from the oven and serve hot.
Nutrition
www.superhealthykids.com
Natalie Monson
I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.
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Love the zucchini boats. I changed it a bit to add ground beef and marinara.
Made your zucchini boats tonight. Used some of my last fresh tomatoes and zucchini out of the garden. Was wonderful!