Nik's Stuffed Zucchini

Quinoa & Tilapia Stuffed Zucchini

So I think I should stop calling Meatless Friday, Meatless Friday. It’s sort of misleading. More than once I’ve been told if I eat fish it’s not a true Meatless Friday and, thinking about it, that’s kind of right. I think it’s much more a function of my Catholic grandpa’s conception of “meatless” that I ever came to think of fish as part of Meatless Friday.

All that is to say I’m going to try going forward to only use the term “meatless” for true vegetarian meals and mark my Lent meals as such. Cool? Groovy!

That being said, about 10 p.m. last night I remembered today was a “Lenten Friday” and, as such, I was abstaining from chicken, beef, pork, etc. I eat fish, seafood, veggies, whole grains and dairy on those days.

Now I could have gone out to lunch today. Lord knows there are TONS of meatless (and Lent) options. BUT. I am trying to stick to my budget better so I decided to whip something up. (Yes, at 10 p.m. last night!)

My mind immediately went to this dish I had at a Greek restaurant called Ikaros in North East Baltimore. Baltimore is known for having very rich, cultural neighborhood traditions. This part of Baltimore is informally known as “Greek Town” and there are some great restaurants with excellent food!

The original dish I had was called named (wait for it…) Stuffed Zucchini Squash! (There was a name in Greek which I could probably attempt since Greek is similar to Russian and, fun fact, Nik can READ – not always understand – perfect Russian and the alphabets are similar BUT…I respect my Greek brothers and sisters way too much to try. K? Moving on.) It had ground beef, Greek spices and rice and the zucchini was HUGE. It was a few meals for even me!

In this instance I decided to replicate the spirit of the dish so much as imitate it. Mine isn’t Greek. It doesn’t subscribe to any particular tradition, although if I were pinned down I would probably (and inaccurately) say it’s more French provincial. But enough of my imagination. Let’s get to the dish!

Nik’s Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients:

• 1 zucchini (mine was about 7 inches)
• 1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp. chopped red bell pepper
• 2 tbsp. chopped green pepper
• 2 tbsp. diced onion
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• Salt, pepper, your favorite spices (I used Herbs de Provence, but you can also use Greek seasoning or any other seasoning you like)
• 2 tbsp. quinoa (I used red quinoa – tastes the same to me)
• 2/3 c. water
• 4 oz. tilapia filet (or other white fish filet of your choice)

Sauce ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. soy flour
• ¾ c. milk (I used skim)
• 1 tsp. garlic
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 3 tbsp. goat cheese (or other sharp cheese of your liking)
• Salt and pepper, to taste 

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Cut off stem and base of zucchini, then cut in half length-wise. Use a knife to score a ¼ inch channel down the middle of the zucchini then scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Set on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt.

Put a dry skillet over medium heat and let it get hot. Add oil.

Add all vegetables and saute for two minutes or until softened. Add garlic and spices, stir and cook an additional minute.

Add quinoa and stir through the vegetable mixture before adding water. Top with fish and cover the skillet.

Cook about 12-15 minutes or until fish is done and white rings have popped out of the quinoa, signaling it is done. You want to cook your quinoa extra tender since it’s going to go in the oven.

Making sure your fish, veggies and quinoa are all mixed together, spoon the filling into the channel of the zucchini, then bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until zucchini has softened.

Meanwhile, in that same skillet that you made the filling, melt the butter. Add the flour and mix until a dough-like paste forms.

Add the milk and garlic and whisk it into the butter/flour mixture. Bring the mixture to a boil. It will froth and begin to thicken.

Add the lemon juice and goat cheese and any spices and stir until it bubbles, then reduce heat to low, cover and allow to simmer until the zucchini is done.

VERDICT: I loved it! Somehow the dish tasted like there was bacon in it but there was not! It was savory and fragrant and...not a bowl of tuna! (Which is what I was going for. I wanted a lunch that felt like lunch.) I love the stuffed zucchini concept so I'm going to play around with it some more.

If you've made one, share how you stuffed yours!

Nik's Protein-y Zucchini Fritters

This started out with me trying to dispel a myth. You see, someone at work told me they'd eaten a zucchini fritter that tasted just like a crab cake.

Being a lifelong Marylander (home of the crab cake) I thought surely this cannot be. So I took to the only place I thought might hold the answer: The Google. Through The Google I found even more people who said that a zucchini fritter, made a certain way, can taste similar to a crab cake.

I thought: these people MUST be delusional. So I decided to try it to debunk this untruth!

Buuuuuut...there were some issues with the recipes I saw. Namely:

• They all called for copious amounts of bread crumbs or white flour
•  All the recipes I saw were fried in oil (for me this is an express route to the temple of the porcelain gods)

Plus if you're analytical like me you know that zucchini + crumbs/flour + oil does NOT = protein forward. So of course I hadda change it. Here's the recipe I came up with. I'll share my impressions in a moment.

Nik's Protein-y Zucchini Fritters

(What you see above is 8 sandwich-sized fritters. You may certainly make them smaller to suit you!)

Ingredients:

1 large zucchini, grated through the larger holes of your box grater (here I used half a green and half an orange)

1 large clove of garlic, minced

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tbsp Old Bay seasoning 

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp light mayo (I used Hellman's Canola mayo)

1/4 tsp Herbs de Provence (or, if you don't have that some Italian seasoning works well)

1.5 c. TVP, crushed (What's TVP? And no worries, I'll explain the crushing.)

Optional: 1 large egg

Directions:

After you shred the zucchini, place it in a bowl and toss the salt and Old Bay seasoning into it. Let it sit for about 5 minutes during which time it should release a fair amount of water. Don't worry about that.

Meanwhile, break out your food processor (or in my case my Magic Bullet Blender) and throw your TVP in. Pulse until it is the consistency of bread crumbs. Here's what it looks like before (in my hand) and after.

Return to your zucchini. Add in your mustard, mayo and herbs and mix thoroughly. Give it a taste. You should taste the Old Bay and it should be just a twinge too salty. No worries, the TVP will soak that up.

Mix the TVP into the zucchini mixture thoroughly and let THAT sit about 5 minutes. The TVP should absorb the liquid from the zucchini and what you should be left with is a ball of mixture that looks something like this.

Now at this point I was able to form them into patties but the spirit of my long-gone grandmother kept pestering me to put an egg in it. Cuz...you know...that's what you do! I honestly believe, though, that it is possible to cook this without the egg, thereby making the fritters vegetarian.

S'anyway, I used my trusty griddle pan (I truly use it for EVERYTHING) but you can use a fry pan. Set it over medium heat and let it get HOT. Then spray generously with nonstick cooking spray.

Form patties of desired size in your hand (I did sandwich sized ones because, as we all know, I have the Wonder Pouch), then place the patties onto the hot pan. Cook about 4-5 minutes each side.

Check out the awesome CHUNK of orange zucchini in that bottom right one! :)

As they finish, put them in a bowl or on a plate lined with a paper towel (although there's no grease it helps draw any excess cooking spray off the surface) and allow to cool about 10 minutes before serving.

NOW...the verdict. I broke one open, tasted it and...

They bear a considerable resemblance to a crab cake in both flavor and looks. That's about all you're going to get from me. I lose my Marylander card if I say anything stronger that that. :)

I found the more Old Bay I used, the more I picked up the crab cake. I've tried these with a myriad of toppings and I think my favorite is Ken's Light Honey Dijon salad dressing. Just a little drizzle. I imagine this thing would taste great on a bed of arugula with some halved cherry tomatoes too. All in all, VERY yummy!

Mine yielded 8 crab cake sized fritters. You can certainly make them small. Make them YOU-sized.

(TIP: When reheating these...heed my warning. Put it on a plate and place a wet paper towel over the top. You'll thank me!)

So far as the "protein-y" part, you guys know how I feel about giving full  nutrition stats but every once in a while I do like to give that information, just to give you a starting point of how the nutrition shakes out. As per usual, this is not an indicator that I will start posting stats on all dishes. Nope...not doing it!

BUT...since I call these "Protein-y" Zucchini Fritters, I kinda felt obligated.

Each of MY fritters (remember, I made 8 sandwich sized ones) have:

105 calories
1.31g fat
9.17g carbs
4.69g dietary fiber
13.49g protein

And here's how I found that out.