Baked Stuffed Tomatoes

You have tomatoes coming out the wazoo. Maybe you've made salsa. Maybe you've made spaghetti sauce to freeze. Maybe you've cut some for hamburgers or chopped some for salads. But what do you do with the bowls and bowls that are left.

For some people, canning is an option. Mary's not really into canning. I should be, but I'll be honest. I'm too lazy to do it.

Baked stuffed tomatoes are simple and easy. This is one of those recipes where you literally could look in your fridge or your pantry and throw something together for it. (Remember, recipes are guidelines, not rules!)

But don't worry, I'm going to give you some guidance and ideas, but don't be afraid to experiment! Tomatoes are so juicy and when baked with other flavors, it's a pretty awesome feast!

Worried about the kids...tomatoes are just pre-ketchup! Plus, if you use some stuffers that they can get on board with, you are made in the shade!

So here we go with some basics, no matter what the filling:

Slice tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds before adding filling. You want your oven at 350 and for the most part, you are baking 15-20 minutes or until your stuffing and tomatoes are heated through. A good number of stuffing recipes have cheese in them, so if you use cheese, watching for fully melted cheese is a reasonable indicator.

Most of the recipes I'm going to share use 6 medium sized tomatoes.

Now, on to some filling options:

Greek Filling:
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1/2 C yogurt, plain
2 C feta cheese, crumbled - I like the garlic and herb variety
8oz black olives, pitted, sliced
1 t sugar
1T olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

For the Greek, you bake the tomatoes for 10 minutes FIRST. Then add the filling and serve.

Beef Filling:
1/2 lb ground beef
1 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1 t sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/4 t dried oregano
2 C cooked rice - your choice in how you want to prep it
1/2 C dry bread crumbs
2 T butter
2 T water

Cook beef and drain. Add tomato pulp, cumin, chili powder, sugar, salt, pepper and oregano to pan. Heat til warm. Add cooked rice. Stuff tomatoes.

Melt butter and add water and bread crumbs. Cover filling with bread crumb mixture and bake until bread crumbs are lightly browned.