Lentil Stuffed Tomatoes

I’m often pulled in two different directions when it comes to weekday dinners. I like easy, but I like special, too. We do a lot of beans and rice just slopped in a bowl for the sake of simplicity, but sometimes it’s nice to pretty dinner up a little bit. My favorite way to pretend a simple dinner is actually fancy-pants is by stuffing it into a vegetable. It’s elegant, easy, and hey, you’re adding an extra vegetable to your meal, right? Not so bad.

This lentil stuffing, loaded with veggies and fiber, is great on its own or over rice. But it’s even better packed into a fresh tomato and baked just long enough to soften the tomato and deepen the flavors. Sure, it takes just a bit longer to put together than your average weekday meal, but a lot of the time is inactive (read: catching up on emails/watching the news/internetting) and in my book, it’s totally worth it.

Lentil Stuffed Tomatoes

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

55 mins

 

Tomatoes stuffed with a flavorful lentil-vegetable mix and baked in tomato sauce.

Category: Main Dish

Yield: 4 stuffed tomatoes

Ingredients

• 4 medium tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• ½ medium onion, diced
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup water
• ¾ cup dried lentils
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried basil
• ½ cup tomato sauce
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ¼ cup slivered almonds (optional)
• Fresh parsley, to garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Using a sharp paring knife, cut the top off each tomato. With a spoon, core the tomato, leaving only the outer portion. Dice the insides of the tomatoes and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until beginning to soften, 2-3 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until softened and they have released most of their liquid, 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute.
3. Add water, chopped tomato innards, dried lentils, thyme, and basil. Turn heat to medium-high until simmering. Lower heat to medium-low and cover. Cook for 30-35 minutes, until lentils are soft. Stir in almonds (if using), salt and pepper.
4. While the lentils are cooking, preheat the oven to 375 F. Coat the bottom of a baking dish or oven-safe skillet with the tomato sauce. Stir in balsamic vinegar, oil, oregano, salt and pepper.
5. Stuff each hollowed-out tomato with lentil mixture. Place stuffed tomatoes in the baking dish and bake for 15 minutes, until tomatoes are starting to soften. Garnish with parsley and serve.

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