Great Zukes!

All the fabulous flavors without the fattening calories

This is a vegetable dish I made up to satisfy my need for Italian flavors without all the calories. It's that New Year Resolution garbage that is sticking in my mind and I'm really psyched up to stay on track. This recipe has loads of room for your own creativity, so feel free to infuse your own special seasonings and tricks to it. If I had an eggplant, I probably would have used it instead of Zucchini and Yellow Squash. Start by pre-heating your oven to 400 degrees.


INGREDIENTS

1 Zucchini sliced THIN length wise

1 yellow squash sliced THIN length wise

1 cup chopped spinach

1 can diced Italian-style tomatoes

In PREP bowl, combine:

4 diced green onions

1 clove Elephant garlic, sliced paper thin

4 large mushrooms sliced

Blend this with:

2 tsp. red wine vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

dash Italian Seasoning

Salt & pepper to taste

Save for topping:

1/3 cup shredded low moisture/part skim mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
Spray butter

Haul out your Pyrex baking dish, and spray some Pam on it. I use olive oil spray. First, place some of the  slices of zucchini and yellow squash in the bottom. Add spinach on top of the squash, and cover with some of the tomatoes. Repeat this "layering" with the rest of the squash and spinach, using the remainder of the tomatoes.

Add the ingredients from the prep bowl (green onions, sliced garlic, mushrooms) on top of it all, and Sprinkle top with 1/3 cup of the cheese and 1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs. 

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes (or maybe a bit longer). If you want that nice brown crunch affect, about 12 minutes into baking, spritz the Panko with some spray butter. Continue to bake for the remainder of time. 

While I realize this isn't that gooey pasta loaded with yummily tomato sauce and a boatload of cheese, it IS a LOT of fabulous flavor into an EXTREMELY LOW point value for those of you on Weight Watchers. (can you say ONE per serving??) As a bonus, it's pretty filling. If you want to make it a main dish meal, add more cheese to it! I must say those slices of Elephant Garlic get oh so toasty and tasty! Another bonus: no need to worry about Vampires!

Happy (and healthy) Eating!