HG's Cheesy Zucchini Skins

Potato skin fans, REJOICE! Here's an HG-ified low-carb swap for the fatty bar-food favorite. It is SO GOOD...

Ingredients:
2 slices center-cut bacon or turkey bacon
2 medium-large zucchini, stem ends removed
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Mexican-blend cheese
1/4 cup chopped tomato
1 tbsp. chopped scallions
Optional toppings: light or fat-free sour cream, salsa

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8" X 8" baking pan with nonstick spray.

Cook bacon until crispy, either in a skillet over medium heat or on a microwave-safe plate in the microwave. (See package for cook times.)

Pierce zucchini several times with a fork. Place zucchini on a microwave-safe plate, and microwave for 2 minutes.

Flip zucchini and microwave for 2 more minutes, or until softened.

Pat dry. Let cool, about 5 minutes. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Gently scoop out and discard the inside flesh, leaving about 1/4 inch inside the skin. Thoroughly pat dry.

Place hollowed-out zucchini in the baking pan, cut sides up.

Distribute cheese among the zucchini. Chop or crumble bacon, and sprinkle over cheese.

Bake until cheese has melted and bacon is hot, about 5 minutes.

Cut each piece in half widthwise, and sprinkle with tomato and scallions. Enjoy!

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Potato Skins, Average

Potato skins have been a mainstay appetizer on chain-restaurant and bar menus for ages. Delicious, yet uncreative. There's nothing else you folks can think of to hollow out and fill with cheese and bacon?! Also, potato skins are pretty much always eaten as a meal starter or snack -- so it makes sense that they should have snack-sized calorie counts. Well, that is SO not the case. Potatoes are good, but the starchy stats add up. Factor in heavy toppings, and it's pretty much a fatty free-for-all. All this information aside, we crave cheesy, bacon-topped skins as much as the next person. So we wanted to see what would happen if we made skins from scooped-out zucchini. Guess what occurred?! Deliciousness!!! P.S. If you've gotta have real potato skins, you've gotta try our slimmed-down version...