Your grill is calling your name this weekend. Even a little grill with charcoal turns a plain June weekend supper into something that faintly sounds like “vacation.” You’ll feel relaxed just from smelling the aroma and listening to the sizzle, not to mention carving up your barbecue chicken or burgers or portabellos. Ahhhh … summer flavor for Feed Me Friday!
So let me inspire you with a recent side dish from our family grill. Summer zucchini boats are simple to make, and you can watch this cool slideshow of how-to photos below! To make a side dish that feeds 4, here’s what I did.
Summer zucchini boats
2 zucchini (each cut in half, seeds cut out, and then a “notch” cut in each slab)
1/2 sweet onion (or more if there’s no smooching to follow), cut in rings
1 medium tomato, chopped
3/4 cup cooked rice (brown or white) – great use for leftover rice!
olive oil
sea salt
about 1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice (I used Mexican)
- Put a little piece of foil on the grill where you’ll put the onions.
- Heat the grill to medium-high.
- Grill the onions with a little drizzle of olive oil.
- Lay the zucchini on the grill and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Flip the zucchini and brush/drizzle each with a little olive olive.
- Sprinkle zucchini with a little bit of sea salt.
- Grill all for 5 more minutes and remove with tongs.
Breath in big whiffs of grill smoke while you wait. Say “mmmmm,” close your eyes, and think of the beach!
- Mix together the rice & tomatoes.
- Lay grilled onions into the zucchini boats.
- Pack rice/tomato mixture in a slight mound over the onions.
- Top with shredded cheese of your choice.
- Return the boats to the closed grill (on a top rack if you have it, but not right on the grill) OR even better, broil for just about 4 minutes on medium heat until the cheese melts.
Serve as a fresh and healthy side dish OR as a main vegetarian dish. This works great for a Feed Me Friday, Saturday, Sunday … or any week day in between!
Be sure to watch the slideshow of how-to steps and enjoy!
