I’ve been waiting to answer this Daily Prompt, until I had the ingredients on hand and had actually MADE the thing! I did use more yogurt and more mint than what the recipe called for, for the sauce that’s supposed to be artfully smeared beneath the zucchini boats. And I used regular Greek yogurt, and regular feta crumbles. Not vegan.
EDIT: The possibly-plagiarized recipe I came across was vegan, but the one that appears to have come before it, was not.
Honestly, I had been thinking about eating this as a side, and also heating up some chicken, but it got to be a bit too much, so late at night, even for me. So, I will cook up the chicken tomorrow. Today turned out meatless. Didn’t eat very much today, either. Wasn’t up to making breakfast. Toast with some butter… what else… maybe a spoonful of peanut butter? And some sweet tea I made with Truvia. In my beautiful purple pitcher. With my shockingly-coordinating purple glass.
BUT, the general gist is, you cut the zucchini lengthwise, then score them with a sharp knife, being careful not to cut all the way through the skin. Next, you salt them, and let them rest for about 15 minutes. Example:
Pink Himalayan salt you see there. Then, once they have mellowed in their salt, pat them dry with paper toweling. It’s best to do a VERY thorough job of this. The ones I patted more vigorously and with flattened, totally dry paper towel sheets, seared better than the others. I suppose I could’ve made my scoring closer together? I just went with lines that seemed to work the best, with the knife I was using, if that makes sense.
EDIT: I probably could’ve made more lines in the gaps, rather than trying to make teeny, tiny cuts.
Something else to keep in mind.
So, maybe try that. Do as I say, not as I do LOL.
Heat up some olive oil in a pan.
They said Medium-High, but I went with Medium heat. I’ve been literally and metaphorically burned before, with oil that was on too high.
I could’ve waited a little longer to pop the zucchini into the oil. Alas.
The recipe called for only four zucchini boats, so two whole ones, cut. A vegan meal for two. But I got extra, because the ones they had at the store looked smaller than the ones in the photo; however, it’s just as well they were, because the smaller zukes fit pretty nicely in my skillet.
There they are, sizzlin’ away.
Once seared, transfer them to a baking sheet, and pop into a preheated 450 degree oven. Cook 5 minutes with the scored sides up, and another 5 with them facing down.
While you’re timing your zukes in the oven, you can use that leftover olive oil to roast some pistachios, adding more oil if necessary. It called for a half a cup, but I used what was left of the bag, less what I had snacked on, yesterday, thinking I would add some of this to the theoretical chicken (which I will probably be cooking up tomorrow).
That worked out to be closer to a cup. But even if there are leftover roasted pistachios, I can just eat them, plain. I had a few, while putting all this together. Very good.
The pistachios, they just say “a few minutes.” I would suggest also turning them a bit in the pan, to roast on all sides. Some came out a little crunchier than others. Most were softened. Hard to describe the taste difference, but I liked them.
THE SAUCE… this part requires a blender.
FORTUNATELY, I discovered mine was still operational, even after the chicken mole debacle. Was that the last thing I made with it? I’m not sure. I seem to also remember attempting smoothies with frozen fruit from the freezer aisle of the grocery store, and the machine not standing up to that.
Aside: I remembered the mole tonight (made from scratch, as authentically as I could manage, using peppers only available at one store in town, that I was aware of)… because kiddo reminded me, when I told her the blender just needed a little cleaning (almost entirely on the outside, from disuse, and a little on the underside of the top), but that it worked like it was new. She’d said she was so happy the mole hadn’t killed it. I replied that it nearly killed me, that’s for damn sure.
She had made me promise on the spot never to attempt mole again. I’m not sure if I would freak out so much in the process, now that I’m on anxiety meds. But I did have a few chaotic moments tonight. So who knows?
Getting back to THE SAUCE. OMG it is SO good. But mine probably tastes different than how they intended, because I started with a half cup of plain Greek yogurt, then started to add the rest of the ingredients, then added more yogurt, to make life a little easier on the blender, and to stretch the sauce.
The fresh mint, I chopped, but didn’t measure. I just halved what was in the package I’d gotten from the produce department. MAN did it smell GOOD! And since I had minced garlic from having made spaghetti a couple times recently, I used some of that, instead of cutting up garlic cloves. That, I also kind of eyeballed.
You also zest and juice an entire large lemon, and add all of that. The feta, I just dumped in half a package to the sauce mix in the blender, then reserved the rest for crumbles on top. Mixed it all up then added some salt and pepper.
I didn’t photograph the sauce in progress, and it’s already put away at this point.
But, you can kind of see it, on the plate.
These are the zukes that seared a little better, prior to going into the oven. Maybe I should have gone with a higher temp for the oil? I was just scared of it burning. Also, even with doing four boats at a time, it was a little crowded in the pan. I may try this recipe again, now that I’ve experimented, some.
I made the sauce first, then preheated the oven. My oven preheated pretty fast, regardless. Especially since you need to let the zucchini rest before patting dry. You really could wait until partway into letting the salt dehydrate the zucchini, before setting the oven to preheat.
A blog I found with a similar recipe to the one shared on Facebook that I discovered, states that the deeper you can make the scoring cuts, the better; that you should use a VERY sharp chef’s knife. Mine’s a little dull, and rather unwieldy for zukes as small as what I picked up. The set came with a sharpener. I just have to take the time to sharpen the blade. Anyway, I used a stainless steel serrated steak knife. Maybe not ideal, but it worked okay.
Alright, I have now found two versions that look kind of like original posts. One only uses half the lemon juice but the zest of the full lemon, and suggests avocado oil instead of olive, for its lower smoking point, and for being a heart-healthier alternative. That’s the second one, which I *THINK* might have come first.
One of those sites, their scoring is MUCH much closer together than mine. That might have made a difference, in the final result. BUT, I made all this after coming home from work, and I’m proud of myself for giving it a try. Plenty of sauce leftover to add to tomorrow’s chicken. I can likely cook the chicken BEFORE work tomorrow, and have a nice little meal of all of it, before I go in.
I had some blueberries and an apple, kind of as “dessert” tonight, and a protein bar, at work. Not one of the nearly-zero carb ones. One that tastes decent. LOL. So, fear not. I ate.
Besides, there was MUCH frozen pizza yesterday. Balance?
Here is what looks to be the recipe I had found, re-posted by Verde Minds:
THIS version seems to have come first:
https://shredhappens.com/thomas-keller-zucchini/
So, you can check them both out, for more specifics. Compare and contrast.
Even without any meat, coming from someone who typically has meat with every meal, it was still very satisfying. But I also see how it would be a great side, with, say, chicken. I picked up chicken tenderloins, to go with it.
Will have to report back on how the sauce tastes with chicken!!!
So, yes, this was a thing I had wanted to cook. I came across it after midnight, on my last perusal of social media before bed, and shared it, so I wouldn’t lose track of it, since I never quite got the hang of saving posts then retrieving them.
I also saw a video on several variations on hot chocolate, which looked really fun, as well! Maybe for cooler weather? We’ll see. Meanwhile, we have sweet tea!
In parting, here’s one of the pics of kiddo’s cat, that she sent me today.
She has said it’s very challenging to get good photos of him, especially when they’re snuggled up, because he seldom sits still. But he’s pretty young, yet. BUT LOOK AT THOSE EYES!!! And that pretty coloration on his wee face! Such a pick-me-up, seeing my grandkitty. And kiddo SHOULD be getting her bday gifts from me, in the mail, tomorrow! SQUEEE!
Peace!
All the Bright and Sparkly Things 
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