Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes

(recipe from Whole Foods Market)

1 cup vegetable broth (I just used water)
1/2 cup quinoa
4 large ripe but firm tomatoes
1/2 small onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
6 oz. tempeh, diced
2/3 cup raisins
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme (I used a smaller amount of dried thyme)
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Bring the broth and quinoa to a boil in a small saucepan.  Lower the heat, cover, and simmer until the water is absorbed and the grains are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.  Meanwhile, slice the top off each tomato to expose the inside.  Use a spoon to hollow out the pulp and seeds and place in a bowl.  Chop the tomato tops and add to the bowl.  Set bowl and tomato shells aside.

Preheat the oven to 400F.  In a large skillet, combine onion and 2 Tbsp. water or oil.  Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until onion begins to brown, about 6 minutes.  Stir in garlic, tempeh, raisins, thyme, pepper and reserved tomato trimmings and cook, stirring frequently, until most liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes.  Stir in quinoa and parsley.  Stuff tomato shells with quinoa mixture, mounding it on top, and place tomatoes in a casserole dish lined with parchment paper.  Bake until tomatoes are soft and filling is just browed on top, about 15 minutes.


(While making this recipe, hollowing out the tomatoes, I wondered if it was going to be worth the work...  It was!  You may actually want to double it and make 8 stuffed tomatoes!  The combination of the quinoa, tempeh, raisins with the tomato is lovely.  And each tomato packs up nicely for lunch.)