Roasted stuffed tomatoes
Have you ever made stuffed vegetables? If not, it's never too late to try - they are delicious! They can be prepared in a big batch, are great as a main meal for dinner, and are perfect and easy to bring for lunch. What I really love about stuffed vegetables - especially when the stuffing is almost fully snugged inside of the vegetable - is how juicy and tender they turn out. Also, there is no limit to your creativity here. You can make your stuffing vegetarian or not, use different grains (rice, quinoa, couscous, barley, etc.), various ground meats, sauces and spices.
So far I mostly made stuffed bell peppers or cabbage. I have also experimented with collard greens, squashes and pumpkins. I mostly make them with meat, but have tried a few vegetarian options as well. This time I had some lean ground beef in the fridge and decided to try something new. I remember reading somewhere that tomatoes are great for stuffing as they hold the shape really well and add a lot of juice to the stuffing. So I gave it a try.
The recipe calls for only a few very basic core ingredients - tomatoes, ground beef, rice, and onions - and several spices (but you can experiment with any other spices you have in your pantry.) Here are the step-by-step instructions.
Start with boiling rice (instructions depend on what type of rice you are using.) I used Lundberg wild rice mix which I prepared in the pressure cooker in advance. If your rice still needs to be prepared, get everything else ready for stuffing while rice is cooking.
Preheat oven to 375F. Cut flat thin tops from tomatoes. Don't throw them away as you will use them to cover tomatoes once they are stuffed. I suggest using large tomatoes that are more 'flat', i.e. have a bigger surface to sit on.
Use a spoon to scoop out the center of each tomato. The recipe calls only for about 1/2 cup of the scooped out flesh, but you can keep the rest in an airtight container and use for something else later.
Next, chop the onions - the smaller the better. You can use a food processor for that as well.
Once rice is ready, prepare the stuffing. Combine ground beef, cooked rice, onions, and about 1/2 cup of the more liquid tomato flesh that you scooped out. Add all spices, salt and pepper and mix well.
Cut up parsley and add to the mix.
With a spoon, carefully stuff each tomato. The amount of stuffing based on this recipe is perfect for 8 large tomatoes.
Cover each tomato with a tomato top.
Spray just a little bit of olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper over tomatoes. Put in the oven for 45 minutes. After that, switch oven to a broil setting and keep tomatoes in for another 5 minutes. I left them on broil for about 7-8 minutes and they got a bit too charred.
I served them with a side of mixed greens with some sweet yellow peppers and cucumbers with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper over the greens. This made a very colorful and summery dinner plate! Enjoy!
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ROASTED STUFFED TOMATOES RECIPE
Ingredients:
8 large tomatoes
1 lb ground beef (93%)
1/2 cups dry Lundberg wild rice blend
1/2 onion
A small bunch of parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Cook rice according to instructions (depending on the type of rice). It is convenient if you have rice cooked in advance.
3. Cut flat thin tops from tomatoes. Don't throw them away as you will need them to cover tomatoes once they are stuffed.
4. With a spoon, scoop out the center of each tomato. You will need 1/2 cup of the scooped out flesh for the stuffing. You can keep the rest for something else later.
5. Chop the onions - the smaller the better.
6. Once rice is ready, prepare the stuffing. Combine ground beef, cooked rice, onions, 1/2 cup of tomato flesh, chopped parsley and all spices, salt and pepper, and mix well.
7. Cover each tomato with a tomato top. Spray just a little bit of olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper over tomatoes. Put in the oven for 45 minutes. After that, switch oven to broil and keep tomatoes in for another 5 minutes.
8. Enjoy!