Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini Boats

I love experimenting with vegetarian dishes. They can be so full of color, flavor and texture like these Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini Boats. I had a lot of leftover quinoa, so I mixed it up with some vegetables I had on hand, topped it off with marinara sauce and some cheese to melt in the oven and viola…dinner is served! You can have two of these per serving, which is super filling but with only 250 calories total. Now that’s a feel good dinner, right there!

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Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini Boats make for the perfect vegetarian entree with 8 grams of protein but only 250 calories per serving!

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 35 mins

Total Time: 45 mins

Servings: 3 servings

Calories: 248kcal

Author: Yumna Jawad

Ingredients

• ▢ 3 zucchini cut lengthwise
• ▢ 1 cup cooked quinoa
• ▢ 2 tbsp olive oil divided
• ▢ 1/2 small onion chopped
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 1 cup colored peppers chopped
• ▢ 2 oz cherry tomatoes diced
• ▢ 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• ▢ 2 tbsp goat cheese can also use fresh mozzarella cheese
• ▢ 2-3 tbsp fresh basil chopped
• ▢ 6 tbsp marinara of choice one per boat
• ▢ Salt/pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 450 F degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Scoop the inside of the 6 zucchini halves using a spoon in order to make the zucchini boats.
• Small dice the inside flesh of the zucchini that was removed; set aside.
• Drizzle half the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste on the zucchini boats, cut side up and bake at 450 F for about 15 minutes.
• While that's baking, make the quinoa stuffing. Start by heating olive oil in a medium size pan, and then cooking the onion until translucent. Add the garlic, peppers, tomatoes, chopped zucchini and crushed red pepper, and season with salt to taste.
• Cook for 4-5 minutes until all the flavors are incorporated. Add cooked quinoa stir everything together for 2-3 minutes.
• When the zucchini boats come out of the oven, fill them with the quinoa mixture, top with the marinara and goat cheese and bake at 450 F for about 10 minutes until the cheese is melted
• Garnish with the fresh basil and serve immediately.

Nutrition

Serving: 2g | Calories: 248kcal | Carbohydrates: 26.3g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 13.8g | Saturated Fat: 2.8g | Cholesterol: 3.5mg | Sodium: 132.1mg | Fiber: 5.6g | Sugar: 8.7g