Protein and Carbohydrate Free Lunch

The other day I wanted to have a fruit and vege day, just to have a bit of a rest from all the carb and proteins I seemed to be opting for.

I started with a fruit breakfast - banana, feijoas, some canned fruit, pumpkins seeds and a handful of sultanas – all mixed in a bowl and enjoyed slowly.

For lunch I used fresh vegetables from the garden. I have let my vegetable garden go a bit so the zucchinis have grown too big. Never-the-less I still eat them and add them to dishes as ‘filler’ or roast them for a short time with other vegetables. You have to keep the skin on or they will turn to slush but when they are roasted they soak up the flavours form the meat juices.

Stuffed Zucchini

For lunch I cut off a chunk of zucchini and carefully cut the centre fibre part, where the seeds are out, and placed it in the centre of a microwave dish. You need to keep the skin on so it holds its structure and once it’s cooked it is soft.

I diced into small pieces

¼ onion

A handful of button mushrooms
1 tomato
1 tbsp of fresh parsley

I mixed these all together in a bowl with some freshly ground pepper and filled the centre of the zucchini with it keeping the remainders for topping up.
I cooked this on high in the microwave for 3 minutes. I carefully drained off and saved the juices that had come out and then topped up the filling with the leftovers.
I cooked this again on high for 2 more minutes.
I thickened the juices with a sprinkle of corn flour and added the rest of the juice that had seeped out after the second cooking.
I spooned some of the corn flour ‘paste’ into the filing being careful not to have it overflow; cooked for 20 seconds and repeated filling with the ‘paste’, cooking for 20 seconds, until it was used up.

I up turned the dish onto a serving plate and garnished with slices of avocado.
If you wanted you could add grated cheese or chopped bacon. If you were cooking for more people it may be quicker to cook them in the oven at 180°C but it may fall apart more once you start adding the corn flour paste.