Thursday, September 13, 2012

Exploding Volcanoes

First let me start by saying I love zucchini in all forms. My boys however don't share that some love. In fact the only way they eat it willingly is in zucchini bread and only if the recipe has lots of sugar so it is more like cake than bread. But a few weeks back we had been given a big hearty zucchini and I decided to try a little something new. My boys are also willing to try foods more often if they have crazy names... like pterodactyl eggs (little red potatoes) or stegosaurus meat (chicken) usually it is their dad that comes up with the names. But after I made these little creations and Luke asked what they were I decided to call them "Exploding Volcanoes" and you know what...they ate them. And Luke liked his so much he told me to take a picture of the extra one, now I'm glad he did!
I wish I had written down exact measurements, but I didn't and I'm quite certain this is one of those recipes that you could just kind of throw whatever in. Here is what I remember.



1 large zucchini,

1 1/2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced and drained or 1 can diced tomatoes drained

1/2-1 cup cooked rice

1/2 cup shredded cheese, I used Monterrey jack

1/2 cup diced zucchini (use the stuff you hollow out)

Garlic Salt to taste ( I actually used Johnny's garlic spread & seasoning which I bought at Costco)


1. Cut the zucchini into 2-3 inch sections. Making sure it is a flat cut so they will sit on a cookie sheet nicely. So it is like a cup

2. Scoop out the inside of each "cup" leaving at least 1/4 inch of flesh on the bottom and around the sides, so things don't leak out. The sides you can get a little closer but not too much or it will cave in.

3. Dice the scooped zucchini up to add to the rest of the ingredients. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl until well blended.

4. Put the mixture into each cup.

5. Spray a cookie Sheet with cooking spray

6. Put stuffed zucchini cups on tray

7. Bake for 20-30 minutes @350°


I checked mine at 20 minutes and they needed just a bit longer. You could also add more cheese to the top at this point and then cook a few minutes longer if you like a lot of cheese. Something I hope to try in the future would be to add sauteed onions and garlic to the mixture.