Lebanese Sheikh el Mahshi Stuffed Zucchini with Beef and Pine Nuts

Sheikh el mahshi is a beloved Lebanese comfort dish: zucchini hollowed out and filled with a fragrant mix of lean ground beef, pine nuts, onion, and warm spices like allspice and cinnamon, then simmered gently in a light tomato sauce until everything turns tender.

Lean beef is a strong source of zinc, which is one of the reasons this dish sits comfortably on the thyroid-safe list — it's a mineral that comes up often in conversations about thyroid function, and beef delivers it naturally without any extra effort. The zucchini cooks down fully in the sauce, so nothing here is raw.

This is the kind of dish that tastes even better the next day, once the flavors have had time to settle, and it pairs well with a small side of rice or just some crusty bread to soak up the sauce.