Today I am excited to talk about the spicy Mexican zucchini boat recipe.
At my animal health emergency response corp training, I met a woman who introduced me to zucchini boats. And I will never forget the recipe she shared. Enticed by how easy they looked, I had to come home and try making them for myself.
This spicy Mexican zucchini boat is one tasty and delicious meal.
Even while preparing the spicy Mexican zucchini boats, I was unsure about how they would come out. The spicy Mexican zucchini boat recipe seemed so healthy.
I’m sure you know what I mean, like a salad without dressing or an orange eaten for the 90th day in a row. My fear was that the zucchini would not cook all the way through and that it would come out raw, or that the entire recipe would be a flop and would just not taste that good.
Although I was following the spicy Mexican zucchini boat recipe to a tee, I believed we would be merely using the zucchini as a cup to eat the toppings out of. I thought no harm, no foul, and it was worth a try.
These vegetables are a great addition to the spicy Mexican zucchini boat recipe.
I am so happy now that although there were uncertainties, this spicy Mexican zucchini boat recipe was tried. I was about to alter the zucchini boat recipe to cook the zucchini first and then put the ingredients in after.
I am glad now that I didn’t use this technique. If I had tried to cook the zucchini first before filling the “boat” with the other ingredients, the zucchini juices would not have soaked into the ingredients as much, and it may not have been such a success.
These Spicy Mexican zucchini boat toppings are tasty.
While this spicy Mexican zucchini boat recipe is just one zucchini boat recipe, there are tons and tons more where this one came from. The zucchini tasted 200x better to me than the use of bread in any pizza.
This is because the vegetable juices married into the other flavors to create the perfect marinade. After cooking it in the oven, the juices cooked out and meshed perfectly with the ingredients inside the zucchini boat.
Unforgettable Spicy Mexican Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
2 large zucchini
½ can refried beans
½ cup (affiliate link)brown rice
1 tablespoon avocado oil - or olive oil- 1 teaspoon avocado oil - or olive oil, (additional)
½ cup ground beef (minced beef)
½ packet (affiliate link)taco seasoning
½ cup cheddar cheese
¼ cup cilantro (coriander)
¼ cup yellow onion
1 cup green pepper (green capsicum) - red, yellow, green or combination
½ cup salsa
Instructions
- Cut the zucchini on its long axis.
- Scoop out the zucchini with a melon baller to result in hollow zucchini (they will appear as boats).
- Place hollowed zucchini on a greased cookie sheet. Lightly brush the tops of zucchini with 1 teaspoon avocado or olive oil.
- Put avocado oil (or olive oil) in a skillet, and place meat with taco seasoning in the skillet to mix and heat.
- Heat refried beans until warm.
- Combine rice, meat and 1/4 can of refried beans in a mixing bowl.
- Combine vegetables (peppers, onions, cilantro) in another mixing bowl.
- Line zucchini bowls with the remaining 1/4 can of refried beans. Top with rice, bean and meat mixture.
- Add the combined vegetables in a layer over top of the rice mixture.
- Add a layer of cheese, and top with salsa.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
- Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, and then the spicy Mexican zucchini boats are ready to serve.
