My friends are in a weight loss competition and they have been total sweethearts by helping me in my cooking endeavors and eating everything for me. I wanted to do something for them this week and that’s how we found this recipe. The cheesy taco zucchini boats have about 269 calories for one serving (two halves) and is low carb as it uses no real grains. This was one of our faster to prepare ones, clocking in under an hour and was simple and delicious!

Ingredients

• 3 medium sized zucchini

• 1/2 lb ground beef

• 1/3 cup diced onion

• 1 clove garlic, grated

• 1 tsp chili powder

• 1 tsp ground cumin

• 1/4 tsp oregano

• Salt and Pepper

• 4 oz can diced green chilies

• 1 1/2 cups cauliflower rice

• 3/4 cup salsa

• 1/2 cup shredded cheese

Prep

1. Preheat your oven to 400 F

2. Grab a baking dish and add 1/4 cup of the salsa to the bottom, spreading it out

3. Take the zucchini and slice it in half longways. As in tip to tip, not across the center. Scoop out the insides and do whatever you want with them. we tossed them in a bowl and let Liz have her way with them.

4. Place the zucchini open side up in the dish.

5. In a large pan, spray with cooking oil. Add the onions for about two minutes to warm. Add the beef and chop it as it cooks. When the beef is done, add the spices, rest of the salsa, chilies, garlic, cauliflower, and salt and pepper to the meat. Stir all this together and let it warm up for about five minutes.

6. Find a tiny spoon and scoop the meat mix into the zucchini boats. Fill those bad boys up as much as you can. Shove it down to make it fit. Seriously fill them up. Take the cheese and go crazy on top. Just go crazy. Cover it as much as you want.

7. Cover the dish in foil and bake this for about 25- 30 minutes until the cheese melts and gets so perfectly gooey.

Afterthoughts

These were seriously amazing. All the best parts of the taste of tacos without the extra carbs making the guilt feel better. I was weary about the cauliflower rice but the taste blended in so nicely. Not having any main carbs made it taste super light and before I knew it, I had consumed four of them. The zucchini brought a light crisp taste even baked. The salsa bath did help soften the outer layer but not too much. We added a few extra shakes of the chili powder and cumin and picked a jalapeno salsa to give more of a kick. A gorgeous entree that will fill you up, without the guilt of calories and carbs. This was perfect.