Baked Stuffed Tomatoes with Lemon-Chard Feta Rice

Need a way to consume more vegetables each day? Try this recipe. These baked tomatoes are filled with lemon-chard feta rice, and baked on top of golden potato wedges and red onions.  It takes some prep work and extra baking time, but the outcome is quite delicious.
When I was 14 years old, I began cooking meals for my family. This is the one dish from those years of many failed dishes, that managed to turn out a delicious meal each time (in fact, this is the only dish that I prepared, that my cousins actually ate). I think I used a recipe from a home-ec class, which included milk, eggs, and spinach. Back in the day (early 90’s), baked tomatoes along with platters of steamed veggies used to be the default vegetarian dish on restaurant menus. Baked tomatoes are a nostalgic dish for me - good thing they are delicious!

Small to medium red onions cook quickly when quartered. Cut up the potatoes and onions first. Then prep the tomatoes. Finally, prepare the stuffing.  Use ripe tomatoes.

Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients:
4-6 small to medium yellow waxy potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut into wedges
3 small red onions, peeled and quartered, leave the ends on
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp capers, rinsed and drained
salt and pepper to taste
4-6 ripe tomatoes, cored and cleaned out, reserve the pulp and seeds
1 recipe lemon-chard feta rice (see note below)
Note: add the reserved tomato pulp and seeds in place of the cherry tomatoes called for in the lemon-chard feta rice recipe.

Directions.
1. Place the potatoes and onions in a casserole dish.
2. Mix together olive oil, capers, salt and pepper and toss with the potatoes and onions.
3. Preheat oven to 375 F.
4. Prepare the lemon-chard feta rice
5. Carefully fill each tomato with about 1/2 cup or more of the lemon-chard feta rice filling.
6. Nestle the tomatoes in between the potatoes and onions, so they don’t fall over.
7. Bake the tomatoes for 30 minutes or until the tomatoes appear wilted and cooked through.
8. Serve the tomatoes along with the potatoes and onions.

Potatoes and onions in a small casserole


Tomatoes



Bright light chards from the container garden (my only successful plant all Belgian summer long)



Baked stuffed tomatoes ready to go in the oven



Sunday lunch out of the oven

Sage chard with lemon feta rice

Sage is fried in some butter, then added to some stir-fried swiss chard, onions and tomatoes. The sage-chard mixture is served along with some brown arborio rice. It tastes like inside out grape-leaves. The chard and tomatoes come from the garden.

Get the rice going first. Then prep the swiss chard, onions and tomatoes.

Ingredients

1 T butter
6-8 sage leaves
1/2 onion, diced
1 bunch swiss chard, stems and leaves chopped and separated.
1 cup cherry tomatoes
fresh black pepper

For the rice:
1 cup brown arborio rice (you can use white too)
1 quart of water
1/3 cup feta, crumbled
juice of 1 lemon

Directions.

1. Heat water until boiling and then add the arborio rice. Cook over medium-high heat for 30-45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prep the chard, cut up the onions, and leave the tomatoes whole.
3. Heat butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Once hot, fry sage leaves until fragrant or about 1 minute. Set the fried sage leaves aside.
4. Add in chopped chard stems and diced onions to the same skillet. Cook 8 minutes.
5. Stir in the chard and continue to cook another 8 minutes.
6. Add in tomatoes, and turn down heat to low. Continue cooking another 8 minutes. Now focus on the rice.
   
7. Place feta and lemon juice in a large mixing bowl.
8. Once rice is cooked, add it into the mixing bowl and toss together. Season with pepper.
9. Top the chard mixture with the fried sage leaves and serve alongside the rice.

Notes: I didn't add salt because the feta is salty/brine-y enough.
For the chard - wash and dry the leaves. Separate the stems from the leaves. Chop the stems like you would chop celery. For the leaves, place the leaves one on top of the other and then roll into a "burrito" then slice across into 1/2" ribbons. This will give you nice chard ribbons.

Pesto Minestrone

Remember all that pesto left in the freezer? Come January, Khavanu is soon heading away to be Belgish - so she has many pesto cubes to go through. Nick - this one is for you - and for the fact that we cannot eat your AMAZING pizzas. buh.

(obviously I know it is not really Belgish)

Pesto Minestrone

Cooking spray
1 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
4 medium carrots, chopped
2 cups cooked kidney beans OR 1 can kidney beans rinsed and drained
4 qt water or broth (I used the broth from the beans + extra salt)
1/2 cup pesto
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved OR a 22 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup dried macaroni
2 cups swiss chard, chopped OR spinach
1/2 cup pesto
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a large pot big enough to hold soup, spray bottom of pot with cooking spray and heat over medium heat.
2. Add in onions, garlic and carrots. Cook 5 minutes.
3. Add in beans and water.
4. Stir in pesto.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.
6. Add in tomatoes, macaroni, and chard.
7. Cook until macaroni is al dente.
8. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.