‘Weighcation’ & Veggie Fest Revisit From ‘Return 2 Slender’

I’ve had a bit of a ‘weighcation’ during the virus lockdown period – given the scales a bit of time off and focussed more on health than the reading on the dial. Many of my allotment and gardening friends however have used their time to bulk up the veggies. I have tomatoes, butternut squash and pumpkins coming along nicely but they have monsters of courgettes/zucchini and marrows that keep finding their way to my doorstep such is the bounty of their harvest this year. I am very happy they want to share their produce so freely.

I have always been a fan of marrow – such much so I put a recipe for a baked one in my 2nd bariatric book ‘Return 2 Slender’ (for details see here) and it comes into its own every year around about this time and beyond. It’s a vegetarian cheesy affair (although you could add some chopped ham, bacon, chorizo or anything else that takes your fancy) and loaded with other seasonal veggies like peppers/capsicums, sweetcorn, peas and celery.

Here’s the recipe I use – now one slice or two?

CHEESY BAKED MARROW

Ingredients

METRIC/US

low-fat cooking spray or mist

8 thick slices of deseeded marrow/zucchini squash

1 onion, chopped

2 sticks/stalks celery, finely chopped

1 red or yellow pepper/capsicum, deseeded and chopped

50 g/2 oz sweetcorn kernels (fresh, frozen or canned)

50 f/2 oz peas (fresh or frozen)

75 g/¾ cup grated half-fat hard cheese

40 g/¾ cup fresh wholemeal or wholewheat (or protein bread) breadcrumbs

1 tbsp snipped fresh chives

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Topping:

25 g/¼ cup grated low-fat hard cheese

15 g/¼ cup dried panko, wholemeal or wholewheat breadcrumbs

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F/gas 6. Spritz a large baking dish with low-fat cooking spray or most. Add the slices of marrow in one layer.
Spritz a pan with low-fat cooking spray or mist, heat, add the onion, celery and pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the sweetcorn, peas, cheese, breadcrumbs, chives and salt and pepper to taste. Use to stuff the marrow slices.
To make the topping, mix the cheese with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the top.
Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes, removing the foil for the last 10 minutes of the cooking time, until tender.