Meatless Monday- Stuffed Round Zucchinis

Recently, O and I have been in a grilled chicken funk, and decided that we should start having Meatless Mondays. It could be good for us to omit meat completely, and opt for lighter, vegetarian days once or twice a week.

These beautiful round zucchinis spoke to me at the market, and I couldn’t help taking them home and filling them with a savory rice and mushroom mixture. I used a whole grain rice blend (black, red, and brown), sauteed with shallots, shitake mushrooms, fresh thyme, and parmesan cheese. If you are looking for extra protein, you can replace the rice with qunioa, and/or add garbanzo beans to the mix.

This recipe will hopefully be the first of many, inspirational meatless weeknight meals.

What You’ll Need:

6 Round Zucchinis

2 TBS. Olive Oil

6-8 Shallots (finely chopped)

3 Garlic Cloves (minced)

10-12 Shitake Mushrooms (chopped)

1/2 C. Whole Grain Rice (cooked)

1 C. Zucchini flesh (chopped)

3/4 C. Parmesan Cheese (coarsely grated)

5 Sprigs of Thyme (leaves removed)

Dash of Coriander

S&P to taste

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add shallots, garlic, mushrooms, zucchini flesh, and thyme (in that order, wait 3-5 minutes before adding the next ingredient). While the veggies are sautéing; rinse zucchinis, pat dry, cut off the tops, remove and collect the inside flesh of each one. Blanch hollowed-out zucchinis. In a large bowl gently combine cooked rice, room-temp mushroom mixture, and parmesan cheese. Fill each round zucchini with rice-mushroom mixture. Brush each zucchini with olive oil, and top with a sprinkle of parmesan. Bake for 15 min.

Enjoy!!

About these ads

Tags: meatless, mushrooms, parmesan, round zucchinis, thyme, vegetarian

• April 23, 2012
• Dinner, Lunch
• 10 comments