Lightening Things Up with Zucchini Enchiladas

Life is all about happy mediums.  Balancing out bacon with tofu, doughnuts with spin class, and bacon doughnut sandwiches with… well, let me get back to you on that. (Hey, it can always be worse!)  But really, overall, I think we do a pretty good job of doing that.  After a weekend of waffle cake, doughnuts and a bit too much champagne, we’re ready to lighten it up here in the Messy Kitchen, and these enchiladas are a great way to do it.

Using zucchini boats in place of the tortilla pack in the veggies while also making this dish low-cal and low-carb.  Yet with the spicy enchilada sauce and sprinkling of cheese, you sacrifice none of the flavor.  You know, I myself was skeptical of this dish at first.  I was worried there just wouldn’t be enough to it.  But Closet Cooking has never steered my wrong in the past (in fact, it was the source of one of our very favorite recipes), so I decided to give it a try.

I think that photo pretty much sums up in zero words how we felt about these.

Also, thrifty cook tip:  these are a great way to use up the rest of the turkey from these turkey quinoa meatballs!

Zucchini Enchiladas

Adapted from Closet Cooking

Ingredients:

• 4 medium zucchinis, cut in half lengthwise
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin, toasted and ground
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 8 oz ground turkey
• 1/2 cup corn
• 2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce (use recipe below or store bought)
• 3 oz shredded cheese (I used Trader Joe’s cheddar low fat mozzarella)

Directions

1. Place the zucchini halves in boiling water for a couple of minutes to soften; remove and let cool.  Hollow out the zucchini halves with a small spoon reserving the removed flesh.
2. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the garlic, cumin and chili powder and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
3. Dry the zucchini, including the reserved flesh, very well with a paper towel.  This will prevent soggy enchiladas.  Chop up the reserved flesh.
   
4. Add the reserved zucchini flesh, turkey, corn, oregano, and 1/2 cup of enchiladas sauce.  Cook for a few minutes and remove from heat.
5. Spread 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce over the bottom of a large baking dish, place the zucchini in the dish, stuff them with the filling and top with the remaining enchilada sauce and the cheese.
   
6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until the zucchini is nice and tender and the cheese has melted, about 30-40 minutes.

For the Enchilada Sauce:

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1-3 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, plus a teaspoon of the reserved sauce (depending on how spicy you want it)
• 1 teaspoons oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cumin and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
4. Puree the onions and garlic along with the chilies and tomatoes in a food processor and return to pan.  Season with salt and pepper.

Johanna