You Say Tomato...! Second Place Winner: Ripe Tomato Stuffed w/Lentils & Rice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ripe Tomatoes Stuffed with Lentils & Rice

Second Place winner in the You Say Tomato...!  Recipe Contest

Contributed by: Carolyn Uejo Kuntemeyer of Hilo, HI

6 large ripe tomatoes

To make the filling:

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 bell pepper, diced

1 large onion, diced

2 tomatoes, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 jar V-8 juice

1 cup red lentils

1 can kidney beans

2 cups cooked rice

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

A few dashes hot sauce (like Tabasco)

1 teaspoon salt

Pinch ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

Garnish: sour cream grated cheese and chopped cilantro pr parsley

In pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and saute lentils until lightly browned and fragrant.  Add onion, bell pepper and garlic cloves and saute another 5 minutes until onion is soft and translucent.  Add dice tomatoes, canned beans and corn and the V-8 juice.  Add seasonings.  Simmer until lentils are soft (about 15 minutes).  Add more salt and pepper to taste, if needed.  Last of all, mix in the cooked rice.  Simmer for another 5 minutes.

Cut ripe tomatoes into sixths, but not slicing all the way to the bottom.  Open cut tomato and fill center with generous serving of lentils and rice.  Garnish with a dollop of sour cream, grated cheese and chopped cilantro or parsley.

Serves 6

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Sonia R. Martinez is a Gather Food Correspondent.

You can keep up with Tropical Taste a regular twice-monthly feature of Gather Essentials: Food

Sonia is a cookbook author and freelance food writer for several publications in Hawaii and is also a Hawaii Island Journal restaurant reviewer in partnership with her son Anthony Mathis.

She lives in a beautiful rural rainforest area on the Big Island of Hawaii
You can keep up with her adventures and ongoing love affair with Hawaii in her food & garden blog at Sonia Tastes Hawaii and her Gather contributions by clicking on http://foodiesleuth.gather.com/