Dieter's Delight - Stuffed Zucchini

Yeah, it's the same zucchini I'd picked from Gormei Market last weekend and it was wilting away in the fridge. I wanted to make some salad with it, and found a recipe too, but the sudden craving for upma last night pushed this to the background.

And this morning, as I was sipping the coffee, I saw Cheryl's post on HBG about making bread using the pressure cooker. I was looking through the website and then found this cute little zucchini recipe and I knew what I should do for dinner.

So here's how this is made. I made some alterations from the original.

Slice the zucchini into thick pieces (about 4 cm tall, I made them taller, my bad!) and scoop out the innards, leaving some at the bottom to serve as the base. Finely chop some beans and carrots. Add some olive oil in the cooker, add the minced garlic, zuzzhini innards, carrots and beans and cook well. (Alternatively you can cook this in the microwave, which is what I did).

Stuff the mixture in the zucchini.

Meantime, finely chop an onion and tomato. Add some olive oil in the pressure cooker, add the onion, tomato, some basil leaves and half cup of water. Cook for a couple of minutes. If you have a steamer, place that in the cooker, arrange the stuffed zucchini in that. If not, pour the onion tomato mixture along with the water inside a pan, and arrange the zucchini in that. (The idea is for the zucchini to absorb the flavor of the reduction). Add half cup water inside the pressure cooker. (You don't need to do this if you use a steamer). Cook on high pressure for about 5 minutes (without whistle. I did 3, and felt that this needed a little more cooking. That said, I loved the texture of the zucchini at 3 mins, crunchy yet soft. On second thoughts, may be one or two whistles could have done the trick)

Transfer to a plate and have fun! (Psst: I also did crumble some low fat feta cheese over it)

Recipe Source: http://www.hippressurecooking.com/2010/08/stuffed-zucchini-on-tomato-bed.html