Healthy Stuffed Tomatoes

I went on a bit of a healthy kick over the weekend – after making four batches of cupcakes in three days the week prior, I definitely needed it (not that I gorge on the cupcakes I make, but one does have to taste test, you know?). And in a fit of heat-induced amnesia, I accidentally bought a new package of kumatos every.single.time I went to Trader Joe’s last week (four packages, for the record). Luckily, when you’re craving healthy food, a glut of tomatoes isn’t a bad thing to have around.

After I came home with my fourth package, I spent an embarrassing amount of time staring blankly at the tomato patch on my counter, knowing only that I wanted to stuff them. I LOVE stuffed tomatoes, but when I look for recipes, I see a lot of cheese, and breadcrumbs, and more cheese. I also didn’t want to use quinoa or rice, or anything that would require a long cooking time (did I mention it’s been really hot? Because it has). So I went pantry diving and lucked into this soft, creamy, flavorful filling – and what a stroke of good luck.

White beans and tofu give the filling a ricotta-like texture while packing a protein and fiber-rich punch. Sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil are blended in for a hearty but still summery richness. These are not only vegan, super-healthy, and totally delicious, but also quick and simple enough for a weekend lunch and elegant enough to bring to a party as an appetizer or side – I brought most to a dinner this weekend, and we’ve had the few that were left over for lunches and snacks the past few days. These are definitely going into the regular rotation – I think with a side of couscous or quinoa, they can even stand up as a light summer dinner. You could even cook them in the toaster oven to keep your kitchen temperature down (related note: my birthday is sort of soon and I don’t have a toaster oven. I’m just saying).

Stuffed Tomatoes
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
White beans and tofu stand in for the usual cheesy filling in this healthy summer treat.
Category: Appetizer, Side Dish, Main Dish
Yield: 10-12 servings
Ingredients
  • 10-12 small/medium tomatoes
  • ½ package (7 oz) extra firm tofu
  • 1 can cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained and rinsed thoroughly
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 cup fresh basil, lightly packed
  • ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, oil drained
  • 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 Tbsp pine nuts (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 375 F. Line a baking dish with foil or parchment. If using foil, spray lightly with cooking spray.
  2. Slice the tops off of the tomatoes, and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and middles. Discard the tops, seeds and middles, and place the hollowed-out tomatoes in the dish, leaving a little space between each one.
  3. Using paper towels, squeeze the excess water out of the tofu.
  4. Place tofu, beans, garlic, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, balsamic, oregano, and salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor.
  5. Process in ten second pulses until creamy and smooth. A little texture is good - you'll get flavor-packed bursts of sun-dried tomato and basil.
  6. Fill each tomato to just over the top with filling. Top with a few pine nuts.
  7. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until filling is lightly browned on top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

5 Responses to Healthy Stuffed Tomatoes

  1. Healthy summer treats are welcome to join me and my family, anytime of the day. I still have my nephews staying with us, and I am happy to tell their mom that they are slowly getting vegetables be a part of their favorite meals. I am excited to let them try this.
    Myfudo here…Normally we’d never put a shameless plug back to us, but we just launched our new site and we would love for you to be a part of it. I’d love to share our newest launch with you, I hope you don’t mind? Now that we are getting a new look…Myfudo is moving to a new domain http://www.yumgoggle.com This has been a project we have been working on for almost a year now. We just launched our new gallery submission site, and we are just thrilled. We’d be proud to have your work as part of our growing collection to continue to have a larger reach and further inspire all fellow food lovers out there! Please sign up and check us out (it’s free) http://www.yumgoggle.com/gallery
    We look forward to seeing your wonderful pictures, as always.
    p.s. We are hosting a Kitchen Aid Mixer Giveaway to celebrate our new Yumgoggle site, we hope you’ll participate =)
    http://www.yumgoggle.com/japanese-cuisine-japanese-spinach-side-dish-horenso-no-ohitashi-kitchenaid-mixer-giveaway/