Having a hard time getting all your veggies? We’ve been there!
Sure, now we’re veggie-loving registered dietitians, but we weren’t always besties with our greens! In fact, as picky kids, the second our mom turned her back when we were at the dinner table, we’d quickly scurry off with our salads in hand to our deck where our best friend Mary and her black lab Buddy, were anxiously waiting for any veggies we’d want to share. So how, you may be wondering did those girls become veggie fiends?
It happened gradually for us in our high school years–after witnessing how energetic and healthy they made us feel, how they made our skin glow and how they played a part in weight control… and after experimenting and seeing how delicious they could be, the switch flipped and our love affair with veggies began—nowadays we seriously can’t get enough…
And now that we get to witness our clients reap the same veggie rewards, we are constantly trying to find easy ways to make getting delicious veggies easier. That’s one of the main reasons we wrote our latest book The Nutrition Twins’ Veggie Cure and created recipes like our Kale Recharge Smoothie, our Smoked Paprika Zucchini Chips, and our Zucchini Parmesan Rounds. And now these! We can’t wait to hear what ya think!
Weight loss tip:
To prevent overeating at your meal, simply eat some veggies (like these scrumptious Zucchini Boats) before the main course. Veggies are packed with nutrients and they’re high in fiber, so they fill you up, not out. These Baked Zucchini Boats make the perfect appetizer before your meal to prevent overeating during your meal! Zucchini is low in calories and with the zesty tomato, onion, and jalapeno topping added to it, this side dish is absolutely irresistible. Fill up on this scrumptious starter that also packs protein, and you’ll eat a lot less of the heavy main meal, woohoo!
Baked Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
3 Medium Zucchini
6 oz can Tomato Paste
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cilantro
1/8 cup finely chopped fresh basil
½ cup Italian bread crumbs
¼ cup tomatoes (diced)
1/8 cup green onions (chopped)
1 tbsp crushed red pepper
½ diced jalapeno
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ cup shredded low-fat mozzarella
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large pot, boil enough water to cover the zucchinis. Add the zucchinis and boil for 10 minutes.
3. In a small mixing bowl, add the tomato paste, garlic powder, onion powder, cilantro, and fresh basil to the tomato paste and mix together.
4. After the zucchini has boiled (the zucchinis should still be firm, but you should be able to poke through them with a fork), scoop out the pulp to about ¼ inch from the skin, leaving a “boat” structure. Finely chop the pulp and place into a separate small mixing bowl.
5. Mix in the diced tomatoes, green onions, jalapenos, crushed red pepper, and bread crumbs into the bowl with the zucchini pulp. Lightly season the mixture with salt and pepper.
6. On the zucchini ”boats”, coat with the tomato paste mixture.
7. Top the tomato paste with the mixture of vegetables and bread crumbs.
8. Lightly cover the filled boats with mozzarella cheese.
9. Cook the zucchini boats at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Enjoy!
Nutrition Information
Calories: 114
Carbohydrates: 17 grams
Fat: 2 grams
Protein: 7 grams
Cholesterol: 5 milligrams
Sodium: 227 milligrams
Sugars: 6 grams
Fiber: 3 grams
- 3 Medium Zucchini
- 6 oz can Tomato Paste
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp cilantro
- ⅛ cup finely chopped fresh basil
- ½ cup Italian bread crumbs
- ¼ cup tomatoes (diced)
- ⅛ cup green onions (chopped)
- 1 tbsp crushed red pepper
- ½ diced jalapeno
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- ½ cup shredded low-fat mozzarella
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large pot, boil enough water to cover the zucchinis. Add the zucchinis and boil for 10 minutes.
- In a small mixing bowl, add the tomato paste, garlic powder, onion powder, cilantro, and fresh basil to the tomato paste and mix together.
- After the zucchini has boiled (the zucchinis should still be firm, but you should be able to poke through them with a fork), scoop out the pulp to about ¼ inch from the skin, leaving a “boat” structure. Finely chop the pulp and place into a separate small mixing bowl.
- Mix in the diced tomatoes, green onions, jalapenos, crushed red pepper, and bread crumbs into the bowl with the zucchini pulp. Lightly season the mixture with salt and pepper.
- On the zucchini ”boats”, coat with the tomato paste mixture.
- Top the tomato paste with the mixture of vegetables and bread crumbs.
- Lightly cover the filled boats with mozzarella cheese.
- Cook the zucchini boats at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Enjoy!
