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One of my favorite things about summer is the fresh produce. I love walking into my own backyard and finding inspiration for cooking from the vegetables in my garden. And one of my  favorite vegetables is zucchini. It’s so versatile – it’s delicious baked, fried, steamed, or sauteéd, and it can be used a number of ways in dishes, from zoodles to zucchini bread.

Lately, my garden has been giving me zucchini the size of baseball bats, so I decided to use its size to my advantage and make the vegetable the star of my dish. Zucchini boats were the first recipe that came to mind. 

Zucchini boats are a favorite of mine because they can be used in any type of cuisine. The zucchini simply acts as the vehicle for whatever you would rather be eating. It’s a low-carb way to make a filling, nutritious, vegetable-packed meal.

Because I had marinara sauce sitting in my cupboard, I decided to go with an Italian spin for tonight’s dinner. Below is the recipe I created, but feel free to experiment with your favorite flavors and the ingredients you have in your cupboard. The oven temperature and cooking times should be relatively stable for just about any filling options. 

I hope you enjoy the recipe! Please feel free to leave me a comment about how the recipe turned out for you, or to share your favorite way to make zucchini boats.

Italian Zucchini Boats

Makes: 2 generous servings

Ingredients:

• 1 zucchini (my zucchini are so big, I used half of one – like I said, they are the size of baseball bats)
• 1 cup marinara sauce (for a low-FODMAP option, I used Rao’s Homemade Sensitive Marinara sauce – it’s so delicious, you will never miss the onion and garlic)
• 8oz cooked chicken breast, chopped, or ground chicken (see Notes for how I baked my chicken breast)
• 2/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking dish with foil and spray with cooking spray.
2. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds, leaving the ends intact to create small “boats” (this is to make sure the filling does not pour out the sides while baking).
3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine cooked chicken, marinara sauce, and 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese. Fill the zucchini with the mixture. 
4. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a fork inserts easily into the zucchini. 
5. Sprinkle zucchini with remaining 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake for another two minutes, or until the cheese melts.
6. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

Notes:

• The best way I have found to cook moist, delicious chicken breasts is to place them in a baking dish coated in cooking spray and then cover them with parchment paper. Bake the chicken breasts at 400 degrees F for 40 minutes. It’s cooked perfectly every single time. For this recipe, I rubbed my chicken breasts with Italian seasoning before baking.