Success! Meatless Monday: Week Three

Tomato, Tomahto. Doesn't really matter how you say it, Tim finally liked something for Meatless Monday. This week I tried Stuffed Tomatos. I didn't really use any recipes I just looked a lot of them and pulled what I liked from each one to get what I'd like to call my masterpiece.

First I started cooking the rice because that was what would take the longest amount of time. As it was cooking up I went ahead and sliced a little piece off of the bottom of the tomatoes (so they'd have a platform to stand up straight on) chopped off the top (wide enough that I could easily get a spoon in there) and scooped out the insides. Then I put some salt and some pepper in there (I'm learning my lesson about underseasoning things and placed them in a baking dish.

After the rice had done its thing (I started with 1c of uncooked rice so whatever that equates out to once cooked) I mixed it with a small can of tomato paste and got to work on the other ingredients.

I sauteed one chopped onion and added about 3c of spinach in just until it was wilted before mixing it in with the rice and paste. I also chopped up a small can of mushrooms into very small pieces (to try to keep Tim from realizing they were there) and mixed them in as well. Finally I mixed about 1/4c of mozzarella cheese in and was ready to start stuffing.

I just used a spoon and stuffed the tomatoes until they were overflowing (I had enough that I could've stuffed 2 more the same way) and added some mozzarella on the top before sticking it in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes.

While they were cooking up I sauteed some brussels sprouts the same way I did the other night and actually took a picture of them once they were completed. Tim was not a fan but ate them "because they are green" so at least he was able to get them down.

Everything turned out great and I even got a high-five from Tim for the success of the dish. Neither of us could finish our tomatoes because we were too full (although it could've had something to do with us both going after spoonfuls of the leftover stuffing while these were cooking). These could easily be edited to switch out the rice for actual stuffing, add it in with the rice or add in some meat as well. You could also add whatever veggies you like or even substitute out the tomatoes for peppers, squash or maybe even a pumpkin although you'd have to adjust the cooking times.