Skip the meat-stuffed zucchini and take a pleasure trip with these Zuccanoes. They're filled with rice, onions, nuts and mushrooms.

Give a man a zucchini and he will eat for a day. Give a man a zucchini plant, and he will wind up with so much zucchini he won't know what to do with it, and he'll probably end up resenting you.

Fortunately, zucchini is so versatile it can be used in a seemingly endless variety of dishes. Nevertheless, everyone with too much zucchini usually just ends up making zucchini bread. We try to convince ourselves that it is healthful because it has zucchini in it and it is bread, but deep down we all know that it is really just zucchini cake.

So I made other dishes, not involving cake, that managed to make a pretty good dent in the zucchini harvest.

Zucchini is often used as an afterthought, a vegetable that you may grab at the store because it is inexpensive and you haven't had it for a while. But zucchini can be the star too.

For a substantial side dish or a vegetarian entree, I made the unfortunately named Zuccanoes. They are zucchini halves that are hollowed out like a canoe, but because they were created by Mollie Katzen in the original "Moosewood Cookbook," I'm willing to give the name a pass.

Besides, anything that tastes this good should be tried.

What makes these canoe-shaped zucchini treats better than all those other canoe-shaped zucchini treats you keep hearing about these days is the stuffing. This stuffing is made from sautéed onions and mushrooms mixed with rice and minced nuts, for an earthy and obviously nutty taste.

Then you grate cheese on top and bake it. Because, let's face it, everything tastes better with baked cheese on top.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings4 medium zucchini, about 2 pounds1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil1½ cups minced onion1 teaspoon salt8 ounces mushrooms, minced6 medium garlic cloves, minced1½ cups cooked rice, any kind1½ cups minced almonds or pecans, lightly toasted3 tablespoons lemon juiceBlack pepper and cayenne pepper, to tasteA few pinches of freshly minced or dried herbs (any combination of parsley, basil, dill, thyme or marjoram)1 cup (packed) grated Swiss or cheddar cheesePreheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the zucchini lengthwise down the middle. Use a smallish spoon to scoop out the insides, leaving a canoe with a 1/4-inch shell. Mince the insides, and set everything aside.Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and salt, and sauté over medium heat until the onion is soft, 5 to 8 minutes.Add the minced zucchini innards and the mushrooms. Turn up the heat and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring, letting the liquid evaporate. Stir in the garlic and remove from heat.Stir in the rice and nuts, along with the lemon juice, and season to taste with black pepper, cayenne and the herbs of your choice.Fill the zucchini shells, top with cheese and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until heated through. Serve hot.Recipe from “Moosewood Cookbook,” by Mollie Katzen