Beef and Bulgur Stuffed Zucchini

Made a great  lite Italian tomato dressing by grating a tomato and adding lemon, honey,
olive oil, dijon, spices.... 

Ellie Krieger is one of my favorite TV cooking personalities. Don’t let her ‘healthy’ angle scare you away from trying her stuff – it’s all fantastic. These little beauties were a cinch to make and they tasted awesome. The currents and pine nuts really added to the overall texture and flavor. Bonus for me: I got to use some bulgur (which I purchased for the Spice Rack Challenge) and also some coriander (which I purchased for the same!)

Here’s what you need:

3 medium zucchini (about ½ pound each) You can see I did not use enough zucchini, so my proportions were off, but oh, well.

1 T olive oil

1 small chopped onion

1 T chopped garlic

½ lb. lean ground beef (I use sirloin)

2 t ground cumin

1 t ground coriander

½ t red pepper flakes or to taste

1 14.5 ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, strained, juice reserved

1 C cooked bulgur (about 1/3 C dried – cooked according to package)

3 T dried currants (great, great, great ingredient)

3 T toasted pine nuts (great, great, great ingredient)

¼ C chopped parsley

½ C low-sodium tomato sauce

Here’s what you do:

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil. When they are tender, add beef and brown completely. Add the cooked bulgur, spices, drained tomatoes, currants and nuts. Mix well.

Slice zucchini lengthwise in half and scrap out the seedy middle with a spoon. Discard the pulp and be sure to leave about ¼ inch flesh intact.

Place zucchini ‘boats’ in a baking dish and stuff them with the beef and bulgur mixture. I had a little too much filling, so I just tucked it in the corner of the pan.

Pour reserved tomato juice and extra ½ C of tomato sauce over all.

Cover and bake at 350 until heated through. 

(printable recipe)

One Year Ago: Rouladen (one of my family's favorite dinners - perfect for company)