Beefy Zucchini Boats

Today I'm continuing to use vegetables from my garden to make dinner. My zucchini plant has become enormous! It has produced an almost-continuous supply of zucchini, so I've had to come up with some creative ways for my family to eat it. Most things are better when stuffed with meat and cheese, so that is where my Beefy Zucchini Boats came about. I made enough filling for 4 medium zucchinis (or 8 boats), although 1 boat per person was filling enough.

Beefy Zucchini Boats
Serves 8, or 4 very hungry adults

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2-2 lb ground beef
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
Salt and pepper
4 medium zucchini, divided lengthwise
Shredded cheese (smoked mozzarella, monterey jack, or any other easily melting cheese that you prefer)

Directions: Turn on your oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with a greased piece of aluminum foil. Sauté the onion and peppers until softened. Add the garlic and cook a few more minutes. Add the ground beef, breaking it up in the pan as you go. I had about 3/4 of a pound of 90:10 ground sirloin and about a pound of 80:20 chuck in my refrigerator, so that is what I used. Season the beef mixture with salt, pepper, cumin and smoked paprika and cook until deeply browned, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pan. While the beef is cooking, divide your zucchinis lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and some of the flesh to make a trough for the filling. Generously fill the hollowed zucchini with the beef mixture. Shred up a bit of cheese to put on top. I had smoked mozzarella available, but any easily-melting flavorful cheese would work. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese has started to brown on top.