“These are a few of my favorite things…”
So when asking my best friend what her favorite foods are, she’ll tell you two things. Cheese and Bacon. There may be variants of these depending on the day, but it all comes back to cheese and bacon. So, when I explained to her that my husband and I were doing the Keto diet, she was hesitant as to whether or not it was healthy, but excited. Because Keto includes her favorite foods, high in fats and low in carbs. In other words: Bacon and cheese.
Don’t get me wrong, Keto is not just bacon and cheese. In its whole, the keto diet is about finding a balance of fats and protein while minimizing carb intake. I could go into the whys and how’s of it all, but this isn’t a fitness blog. It’s a food blog, so let’s get to the good stuff.
My husband actually found this recipe on someone else’s website, but I’ve put a little Cajun Girl twist on it, so I wanted to share how I made these delicious dream boats. It’s time for the reveal:
Bacon Jalapeño Popper Stuffed Zucchini Boats
You read that right. Bacon. Jalapeño. Popper. Stuffed. Zucchini?
OK, so I know there’s a vegetable in there for all you meat eaters and picky eaters like me, but Zucchini isn’t actually that bad, if you cook it right. Done well, it can have the most deliciously crisp yet tender texture of any squash I’ve had. The key is in the prep.
The first thing you always want to do when creating a recipe like this is get everything cut and ready for the skillet. Chefs call this mise en place, it’s just a fancy way to say getting set up. If you’re busy and impatient like me, here’s a tip: cut up the vegetables/proteins in the order in which you’re going to cook/season them. For example, if your mushrooms need to sit in a marinade for 10 minutes, cut them first, and then move on to your proteins, and veggies in the order you’re going to cook them. This way, you can prep while you cook/marinate. It might not actually save any time, but I always feel more productive this way.
In this recipe, I would recommend cutting your zucchini first. For this recipe, we slice long ways, but if you have an apple corer and a sense of adventure you can slice it in half the other way. Slice your zucchini, and then season the inside LIBERALLY with a tablespoon or so of salt. Then place your veggies salted side up, and set aside for about 5-7 minutes. What this does is it draws out the moisture held in the zucchini, which will help it from getting excessively mushy in the cooking process. When the time has passed, take a dry paper towel and dab the moisture away from the zucchini. Let sit for another 5 or so minutes while you slice the remaining ingredients. Repeat the dabbing process, and you should be good. If when you’re cooking your bacon or other veggies, you notice more water rise to the top of the zucchini, you can always dab it away. I would try to get the zucchini as dry as you can, it’ll really make a difference.
Fats are a huge part of Keto, and using as many parts of the animal is a large part of my culture as a Cajun, so in this recipe I fried everything in bacon fat. Could I have used avocado oil or something lighter? Sure, but I don’t for two reasons: one, bacon fat is delicious, and two, it’s a by product of the ingredients I am already using in the recipe, so this way is less wasteful. You don’t need all of it though. What I did was pour my rendered fat into a ceramic mug, and then while it was still warm, use it as needed to cook my remaining veggies and aromatics. Whatever I don’t use, I’ll dispose of safely. SAFELY!!! Don’t, don’t, DON’T Pour hot grease or oil down the drain.
Enough yakking, let’s get to it!
Bacon Jalapeño Popper Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Credit: delish.com
Ingredients
- 4 Large fresh zucchini, sliced in half (see above)
- 6-8 Slices of thick-cut bacon, sliced into 1/2 to 1/4 in. bacon bits
- 3 Cloves garlic, minced
- 4 Fresh Jalapenos, 3 diced and one sliced for garnish
- 1 Block of cream cheese, softened (I used Greek cream cheese this time around)
- 2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided (I prefer sharp cheddar)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a skillet on medium heat, cook bacon to desired crispyness. Remove from pan and place onto a plate lined with a few paper towels, to absorb the excess grease and keep it crispy. Reserve bacon fat.
- Add 1-2 tbsp of fat to the skillet, and add in you garlic. Cook for about 2 minutes, and add the diced jalapeno. Cook for about 2-4 minutes or until Jalapenos are soft.
- Mix together 1 1/2 cups of the cheddar, cream cheese, cooked jalapenos and garlic, and about 1/2 to 3/4 of the cooked bacon bits, until well mixed through. You can use a hand mixer, but I prefer to use a spatula and just fold the ingredients together so I don’t mess with the melding of textures.
- Scoop out the seeds of the zucchini, leaving about 1/4 inch of insides on the sides and bottom of the zucchini, think like a twice baked potato.
- Stuff the zucchini wells with the cheese mixture, evenly distributing it among all the zucchini. Place all stuffed zucchini on a cookie sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. Sprinkle remaining cheddar over the stuffed zucchini, then top with remaining bacon, and slices of Jalapeno
- Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until cheese on top has melted, and the zucchini are somewhat tender. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and serve!
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Until next time,
Em
Spoonful 