Tomatoes Stuffed with Brown Rice and Feta

I'm doing my best to use up everything we left have in the fridge and freezer so I can start fresh. Today I had about a cup of leftover brown rice and several Roma tomatoes, which I thought would make a great side dish to our grilled chicken.

You too can spruce up leftovers and make them seem like a dish that you planned all along. It takes having some good basics to work with, but really you can stuff anything - tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, mushrooms. The filling can be any combo of meat, veggies, cheese, herbs and starch...whatever you have laying around. Garlic and onions are mandatory for me.

The inspiration for this dish came from an article in Saveur magazine (May 2008) on brown rice and clearly leaning towards Greek flavorings.

Tomatoes Stuffed with Brown Rice and Feta

6 Roma tomatoes

1 cup brown basmati rice

1/4 cup chopped fresh spinach

1/4 cup crumbled feta

2 T. finely chopped red onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp. lemon juice

salt/pepper to taste

1 -2 tsp. olive oil

Spray the inside of a cooking dish with Pam. With a serrated knife, cut off the top of each tomato and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Cut off a tiny part of the bottom of each tomato so it will stand up in the dish. Sprinkle the insides with a little salt.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Stir together the rest of the ingredients (except oil). Stuff the mixture inside each tomato, mounding the tops slightly. Drizzle olive oil over the tops and bake for about 25 minutes.

This is a healthy side dish that will give your plate an extra WOW factor. Add some parsley and mint, if you have it!