CEiMB: Broccoli & Cheddar Stuffed Potato Skins with Avocado Cream

Hi everyone! It’s been awhile. I know I haven’t posted in several weeks, and I’ll keep the sob story short: basically, my laptop crashed and my job is killing me. Just kidding! I love my job, but it does take a lot out of me. However, I have been cooking and photographing, just not posting. Hopefully I will come back from the upcoming Christmas break (yay, two weeks off) refreshed and ready to do some more consistent blogging!

I wanted to come back with this CEiMB pick because I remember seeing it on the list awhile back and thinking that it sounded great! This week we made Broccoli & Cheddar Stuffed Potato Skins with Avocado Cream, and this recipe was hosted by Anne at Rainforest Recipes.

One of the reasons I was looking forward to this recipe is that is incorporates broccoli, something that Scott and I eat 3-4 times a week. In fact, I think it has made several appearances in the background of other recipe pictures in my posts. We enjoy broccoli, but eating it steamed with a light sprinkling of salt every time gets old.

Like several of the Ellie Krieger recipes we have made in the past, I found this one to have a lot of steps and resulted in a large pile of dirty dishes. It was worth it, though, because these potato skins were quite tasty! The only changes I made were to use real bacon instead of Canadian bacon and to add the lime zest to the avocado cream in addition to the juice.

Isn’t my prep board for the avocado cream lovely? I thought all of those beautiful shades of green deserved their own picture.

The avocado cream was very good, and I would like to use it as a substitute for traditional guacamole in the future. I also want to make the cream again with a ripe avocado – I waited until today to purchase one and all of the ones at the grocery store were quite under ripe – because my version today never really came together in the food processor.

Thanks to Anne for a great pick! I plan on adding this one to my regular rotation for some variety with my vegetable side dishes.

On another note, Miss Shelby has proven herself to be the perfect dog for a foodie owner. We have not been giving her human food at all, but when I dropped a piece of cilantro on the floor today, she snapped it right up and looked for more!

Isn’t she growing quickly? She’s so cute!

Stuffed Summer Squash

I have seen many variations of stuffed squash and zucchini popping up around the blog world so I thought I would share my version as well. This is one of my favorite summertime recipes and often make it as a side dish or even as an entree served with a salad. One of the best things about it is that you change easily change the quantity based on the number of squash you have or the number of servings you need to make.

For my stuffing, I start by sweating diced onions, carrots and mushrooms in a little bit of olive oil and butter. Then I toss the vegetables into dried stuffing mix, then add heated chicken or vegetable broth in very small increments until it just comes together without becoming soggy. My favorite stuffing mix is Pepperidge Farms herb stuffing, but I think this would also be nice with a whole grain such as bulgur or quinoa as well. Panko, however, does not work as the pieces are small and become soggy very quickly with the addition of the broth.

To prepare the squash, I cut off the stem end, slice in half, and remove the seeds with a spoon or melon baller. Then, I parboil them for approximately three minutes. I think this is the most important step to ensure the squash and stuffing are both finished baking at the same time without overcooking. Just drain the squash well before stuffing, and use a paper towel to soak up the water if necessary.

Before stuffing, salt and pepper the inside of the squash. This is another important step and guarantees that you have a well-seasoned dish. Sometimes I add pepper to the stuffing, but rarely salt – I don’t think it needs it since it has broth. Finally, stuff the squash and place in a baking dish. Then bake at 375 until the stuffing is heated through and golden brown and crispy on top.