Mushroom-Stuffed Zucchini

After too many meals using pre-packaged junk and too much restaurant fare (thanks to unrelenting morning sickness triggered in part by cooking smells), we're finally back to what hubby refers to as "real food."

Today's lunch consisted of tomato-cucumber-avocado sandwiches on freshly-baked honey wheat bread, baby carrots and celery sticks w/ garlic hummus, and mushroom-stuffed zucchini. Now, plain as the sandwiches may sound, they're practically deserving of their own entry -- definitely a quick-fix staple in our kitchen. But the zucchini stole the show. How do I know? Well, hubby isn't generally much of a squash person. He'll eat it (in small quantities), but has never been known to seek it out. Today, though, he asked for seconds.

To begin, I took three moderately-sized zucchini (about 1" in diameter by about 8" long) and steamed them, along with a solitary yellow squash, for 15 minutes. As soon as the timer went off, I plunged all the squash in icy cold water to stop the cooking process. Then, I split the zucchini in half vertically and scooped out the seeds.

That done, I made a mushroom stuffing with sausage overtones:

Using a $5 electric food chopper, I minced the following:

6 oz. mushrooms
1/4 cup red onion
2 cloves fresh garlic

I then sauteed the above mix in 1 tsp. basil-infused olive oil + 1 tsp. of grapeseed oil.

As the mix cooked, I added ...

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. rubbed sage
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper (could have used more, but Hubster isn't into overly-spicy food)

While all the above cooked down, I pureed the yellow squash in the aforementioned food chopper and finely shredded about 1/2 cup carrot.

I then mixed the pureed yellow squash, the carrot, the cooked mushroom mixture, 2/3 c. seasoned bread crumbs, 1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast, and a good 1/2 tsp. of Herbamore (vegetable-infused salt).

Lastly, I stuffed the mixture into the scooped-out zucchini shells and stuck the now-stuffed zucchini in a 350 degree oven for about twenty minutes. Relatively simple and oh-so-good!