I like to subscribe to cooking magazines. It keeps me from buying too many cookbooks and gives me tons of ideas, especially for using seasonal foods. I usually switch it up and order a different magazine each year. One of my favorites that I’ve kept coming back to is Cooking Light. I think part of that is because just the name makes me feel like I’m eating healthy.
I have had great success with CL recipes overall. I should be honest and also add that I’m not all that great about following the recipes as they are printed. So a lot of the things that make CL recipes lighter – low-fat cheese and dairy, etc. – are not really used when I make them, so the recipes turn out more “Cooking Medium”. I really don’t like the taste and texture of most of the low-fat versions of cheeses, sour creams, skim milk and the like and I rarely have them in the house. Even so, I think these are still tasty recipes on the healthier side, and that’s good enough for me. This is one I actually followed pretty closely to the original and I’ll definitely be making it again.
I think you could use any size tomatoes for these. I actually prefer the texture of the small to medium tomatoes to the large one so I just made more.
Baked Stuffed Tomatoes
Baked Stuffed Tomatoes
(from Cooking Light)
2 poblano chiles
2 cups fresh corn kernels
1 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp. fresh oregano, chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. salt – divided
3/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. black pepper
6 large ripe tomatoes (or more if they are smaller)
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup cheddar-jack cheese, shredded
Preheat broiler. Cut the chiles in half lengthwise, remove seeds and stems. Place skin side up on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil until skin is blackened. Remove from oven and place in a paper or plastic bag to cool. Add corn and onion to pan and place back under the broiler. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Put in a bowl. Peel chiles and coarsely chop, add to the bowl with the corn and onions. Add oregano, oil, lime juice, 1/2 tsp. salt, cumin and black pepper. Stir to combine and set aside.
Cut tops off tomatoes. Carefully scoop out the tomato pulp, leaving the shells intact. Drain pulp through a sieve over a bowl, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract liquid. Reserve 1 1/4 cups liquid, discard the rest. Sprinkle inside of tomato shells with salt and invert onto a rack to drain while you cook the quinoa.
Place quinoa in a fine sieve, rinse and rub the grains together with your fingers, and drain well. (I bought pre-rinsed quinoa so I skipped this step, but if you didn’t buy that kind, this will help prevent any bitterness the grain might have). Combine reserved tomato liquid, 1/4 cup water (use more if you didn’t have 1 1/4 cups tomato liquid – you should have 1 1/2 cups total liquid), quinoa, and 1/2 tsp. salt in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Cook for 15 minutes on low until liquid is absorbed. Fluff with fork and add to corn and pepper mixture. Stir to combine.
Preheat oven to 350˚. Stuff each tomato with quinoa mixture. Place stuffed tomatoes in a casserole dish or jelly roll pan. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 15 minutes, until tops are browned and cheese is melted.
Baked Stuffed Tomatoes, fresh from the oven!
3hungrymonkeys 