From Ninja Foodi Complete Cookbook for Beginners
Zucchini boats are as delicious as they are beautiful. This Instagram-worthy dish can be filled based on any taste. Go Italian with tomatoes and cheese, Mediterranean with olives and feta or Tex-Mex with black beans and corn - you really can't go wrong. This version has been on repeat in our house, and I think it will be in yours, too.
2 small zucchini
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 cup canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Halve each zucchini, then cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the inside, leaving a 1/2-inch-thick shell. Roughly chop the pulp.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the zucchini pulp, quinoa, cannellini beans, tomatoes, almonds, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, and black pepper.
Place the cook & crisp basket in the pot. Close the crisping lid. preheat the unit by selecting air crisp, setting the temp to 400˚ F and setting the time to 5 minutes.
Spoon the zucchini mixture into the zucchini shells and arrange the zucchini boats in a single layer in the preheated cook & crisp basket. Close the crisping lid, select air crisp, set the temperature to 400˚F and set the time to 15 minutes. Select Start/Stop to begin.
After 15 minutes, sprinkle the zucchini boats evenly with the remaining 1/4 cup parmesan cheese and remaining 1 tbsp olive oil. Close the crisping lid. Select Boil and set the time to 5 minutes. Select Start/Stop to begin.
When cooking is complete, check for your desired crispiness and serve.
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We modified the recipe by adding ground beef with taco seasoning to half of our boats (for the meat eater) and then accidentally burning them. If you don't have an air frier, you can obviously bake these in the oven and if you don't want to make boats, you can make a casserole - which is just as delicious.
