4 zucchini
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 /2 onion (small), chopped
1 celery stalk
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 /4 cup flavored bread crumbs
1 /4 cup grated Romano cheese

1. Oven 350 degrees
2. Wash zucchini and cut in half lengthwise. With a spoon scrape out the inside of the zucchini shell carefully starting in the center, leaving a shell for filling later. Steam the shells in the microwave for 2 to 5 minutes. Place on paper towels to absorb water from steaming.
3. In a medium frying pan, add butter and olive oil over medium heat.
Add chopped garlic and onion. Cook a few minutes. Add scoped out zucchini, chopped celery, parsley and sauté until everything is tender. Add salt and pepper.
4. Turn off heat and stir in grated cheese and bread crumbs. Mix thoroughly. If too wet looking, sprinkle in a tablespoon at a time, more grated cheese and/or bread crumbs.
5. Spoon mixture into zucchini shells and place stuffed side up on an oven pan or cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 15 minutes. Then turn oven to broil and broil for 2 or 3 minutes to brown the top, keeping an eye on the zucchini, they brown quickly. Serve immediately.
6. ENJOY! – A vegetable with its own serving dish!

Got family? Well, I think you can easily understand the challenges of cooking for 3 kids and a husband with a big appetite! I don’t know how I did it and managed to work fulltime and feed a hungry family, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

However, that was then and this is now….the kids are on their own and I’ve made the great leap forward to cooking for two. I’m kind of surprised that I’m finding it hard to downsize our meals. Maybe it’s because I was brought up hearing the family mantra, “always make extra, just in case”. My husband, Tom, an enthusiastic cook, suffers from the same ailment. We cook too much all the time. When Tom makes his risotto, he makes it for 8 people instead of 2. Then, it’s all about eating risotto for a week only to find another plate hiding in the back of the refrigerator.

When I start to get a little nervous and feel like I could be losing my mojo, thinking about Sunday dinner kick-starts the cook in me. Sunday dinner, even if it is just for the two of us, is something I try to make a little more special than a weekday meal. One of the reasons I cook extra on Sunday is because I can start in the early afternoon. Sunday leftovers also mean less cooking for the rest of the week when Tom and I are feeling a whole lot less energized after working hard all day. If the hubby doesn’t want leftovers on Monday, I have no problem enjoying the fruits of my labor during the week. I only go out to eat once a week on my lunch hour, so this makes eating lunch at the desk a far happier experience.

So, I’ve got a special Sunday kind of meal I’d like to share with you — stuffed zucchini. I think you’ll find this recipe to be fairly easy, yet very impressive. There’s a bonus too – it tastes even better the next day. Leftovers anyone?

I do love vegetables cooked in any shape or form. Sometimes I like my vegetables plain, like fresh green beans, steamed and tossed in olive oil with a little garlic powder, salt and pepper. Sometimes I like to stuff them and make them heartier, and that’s what my zucchini recipe is all about. This time I added celery, but next time it may be red pepper. It’s all about being creative and having fun with food… making something like ordinary zucchini turn into something extraordinary like stuffed zucchini! Try it – you just might love it!