Tomatoes Stuffed with Corn and Quinoa

I'm getting hungry just looking at this picture. The memory of these delicious stuffed tomatoes comes roaring back and I can practically taste the sweet, fresh farmer's market corn, fluffy quinoa, and warm, gooey cheese. Amazing.

Of course, before getting to the recipe, I must apologize for the long absence. The last few months have included moving cities, leaving my job, starting grad school, getting married, and enjoying a 4 week honeymoon. It's been exciting and exhausting. Unfortunately this has means very little cooking and, therefore, very little blogging. I do hope to start getting back on track but with grad school as opposed to a 40-hour a week job, I'm afraid there will be far less gourmet and a lot more quick meals not worthy of the blog. Hang in there, though, and I'll make sure to toss a few fun ones your way.

I made the stuffed tomatoes alongside some freshly grilled mahimahi lightly seasoned with black pepper and oregano.

Difficulty: medium
Time: 1 hr 25 min
Cost: $24.79



Tomatoes Stuffed with Corn and Quinoa
Ingredients:
4 ears corn
1 c sweet onion, diced
1 tsp dried oregano
1.5 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
3/4 tsp cumin, ground
1/2 tsp black pepper
6 large tomatoes
1/8 tsp salt
1 c quinoa (uncooked)
1 c shredded Colby Jack cheese, low fat

Get your broiler pre-heating. Peel your corn, microwave all 4 cobs for 4 minutes total to soften up the kernels a bit (they will be partially cooked) and then cut the kernels off of them. Put the corn and onion in a broiler pan and broil for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through.

When you're done broiling put the corn and onion mixture into a bowl. Add the oregano, oil, lime juice, cumin, and black pepper.

Now it's time to turn your attention to the tomatoes. Carefully slice off the tomato tops and set them to the side for now. (You will need them later.) Next, carefully scoop out the pulp and put it in a colander over a bowl. Press the pulp to extract excess liquid, reserving the liquid in the bowl.

Sprinkle the salt evenly in the 6 tomatoes. Turn them upside down on a wire rack so that they can drain (you may want to put a paper towel beneath the rack.) Let them sit for 20-30 minutes. After that, pat the insides of the tomatoes dry with a paper towel or two.

As the tomatoes are draining rinse your quinoa a couple times and drain to get rid of the excess waxy covering.

Put 1 1/4 c of reserved tomato liquid into a pot. Add 1/4 c water and the quinoa. Bring it to a boil then reduce the heat, keeping it covered, and simmer for 15 minutes. At that point the liquid should be reserved. Remove the quinoa from heat, fluff, and add to the corn and onion mixture. Toss well to mix. Add the reserved tomato pulp and toss again.

Get your oven pre-heating to 350 degrees.

Divide the quinoa-corn stuffing evenly among the 6 tomatoes. They should be quite full. Divide the cheese evenly, sprinkling on top.

Put the tomatoes and tomato tops in a broiler pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Then remove from oven and turn the broiler on high. Place the tomato tops on top of the stuffed tomatoes. Broil for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Enjoy!

Servings: 6
Serving size: 1 stuffed tomato
Nutrition: calories 229; carbs 35g; fat 6g; protein 13g; sodium 155mg; iron 17mg