The Zucchini Challenge Winners- Part 2

The winner of the “savory” category of the Zucchini Challenge was up against some very tough competition. If you are looking for a good zucchini recipe, check out the comments from the intial Zucchini Challenge post because there are loads of great recipes there.

But I chose today’s winner because, frankly, the oppressive summer heat has put me in a semi-bad mood, and I’m kind of fed up with standing next to a scorching hot stove for hours on end trying to make use of this zucchini influx. So I present to you a beautiful, tasty, healthy and “minimal cooking required” recipe that almost makes the 100 degree temp outside bearable…

Zucchini Boats submitted by Kim and Caitlin!!!

A great big thank you to Kim, and her wonderful daughter Caitlin, for bringing this recipe into my world. It took me no more than 25 minutes to prep and cook this recipe. Granted, my zucchini aren’t as cute and petite as the traditional zucchini folks are finding at the markets and groceries these days. Most of my girls are a little thick around the middle and freakishly long, so they would make something more akin to zucchini cruise liners than zucchini boats, but thankfully my husband was able to scavenge a couple reasonably sized zucchini from the garden for this recipe.

Chances are your zucchini are still quite a bit smaller than what I had to work with, so I haven’t put any amounts next to the ingredients in this recipe. Just mix up however much of each item you think you need to fill the zucchini you’re working with.

Zucchini Boats

Kalamata olives
Chopped tomatoes
Crumbled feta cheese
1 clove of garlic, minced
Dash of salt
Fresh basil, chopped
Zucchini, halved lengthwise and center seeds scraped out
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Simply mix together the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Fill zucchini with mixture, place in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, and bake until zucchini begin to soften; mine took about 15 minutes.

My brother-in-law Ben had the brilliant idea of adding a dollop of hummus on top of his, which sounds amazing but I didn’t actually try it because I had already devoured my “boat” by the time he made the suggestion. But he seemed to be enjoying himself so I highly recommend you giving it a try.

I just want to again thank all of you for your suggestions and encouragement throughout The Zucchini Challenge, and a special thanks and congrats to Sara and Kim for their great recipes!!! Till tomorrow…