Summer is definitely here, and with it comes the promise of delicious Summer veggies like zucchini and squash. I’ve been looking for different ways to cook squash because I’ve planted them in my garden this year and I’m anticipating a bountiful of these delicious little goodies (“anticipating” being the operative word here; I’m pretending to be a gardener).
This recipe fed into my Italian craving and I was excited because it was super filling, healthy and a very low calorie dinner…that I enjoyed with PASTA!
Ingredients:
1lb lean ground beef or ground turkey (I used 96% lean ground beef – the leaner the better!)
1 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium pepper (red, green, or yellow), diced
2 Roma tomatoes (any tomato will really do), diced
3 T fresh parsley, chopped
6 small to medium zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise and de-seeded
½ cup Panko (Panko is a Japanese style of flaky bread crumbs)
¼ cup grated Parmesan
½ jar of Classico tomato basil sauce (or your preferred sauce)
½ cup reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese (2%)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 375.
Spray a large baking dish with nonstick spray and place the zucchini in it side by side.
In a small bowl, mix the Panko and Parmesan cheese and set aside.
In a large pan over medium heat, cook the beef or turkey making sure to break it apart with a wooden spoon to crumble it. Halfway through, add the onion and garlic and mix. Cook until the meat is all browned and no longer pink.
Add the pepper, tomato and parsley and mix. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the peppers soften a bit, about 2 minutes.
Spoon the meat mixture evenly into the zucchini “boats”. Sprinkle the panko and parmesan over the top.
Spoon the tomato sauce evenly over the top of the zucchini and bake for about 50 minutes.
Remove the zucchini from the oven and then top with the cheese. Return to the oven and cook until cheese is browned, about 5-7 more minutes.
I served them with a side of whole wheat pasta and topped it with the rest of my jar of sauce…delish!
Nutrition:
Serves 6 (2 halves per person)
Calories 249 / Carbs 22g / Fat 8g / Protein 25g / Fiber 4g / Sodium 443mg
YOU ROCK!! I search Pinterest the other day and pinned a bunch of new healthy recipes. I decided today was the day to try them out and realized most of them were from your site. After my cooking marathon :) I went looking for more of your recipes and ended up finding that extra inspiration I needed! Your love for food and the ability to make healthy food sound AND taste so good makes me want to get in the car and drive to the 24hr giant with a new list of ingredients! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU and CONGRATS on the weight loss!
ReplyDeleteHi Francesca!! Thank you so much for stopping by!! I love getting comments and feedback so you don't know how much your message made my day! Please keep coming back and I'll keep making more healthy recipes for you :)
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