Summery Baked Tomatoes

August 26th, 2009 | Filed under: entree, recipe, sides & bites | Tags: , , , , , ,

Summery Baked Tomatoes

What happens when you take everything that’s fresh and colorful about summer and stuff it in a tomato? This amazingly light and flavorful dish – baked tomatoes stuffed with fresh corn, black beans, zucchini and cilantro. I also added a little coriander and cumin for flavor and some lemon juice to brighten it all up. Finally, no baked dish is complete without breadcrumbs and a dusting of cheese, Cotija cheese in this case.

Summery Baked Tomatoes

They’re as comforting as a casserole, but still fresh and healthy. They’re also really pretty, all red and green and yellow with a crusty top.

Summery Baked Tomatoes

4 large tomatoes
2 ears sweet corn, shucked
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 zucchini, diced
1/4 of a red onion, diced
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. sea salt
1 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Cotija cheese (about 1 oz.)

Preheat the oven to 350° and grease a baking dish. Slice the very top off of your tomatoes, then use a spoon to carefully hollow them out, making sure to save the inside for another dish (soup, sauce, etc).

In a large bowl, mix together the corn, zucchini, black beans, onion, olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, salt and spices until evenly combined. Carefully, spoon them into the tomatoes until over-stuffed. If you have extra filling, place in the dish around the tomatoes.

Top each of the tomatoes with breadcrumbs and generous grating of Cotija cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve with a side of crusty bread, pasta or rice.

Makes 4 servings.

10 Comments on “Summery Baked Tomatoes”

  1. 1 Mamaliga said at 11:12 am on August 26th, 2009:

    Aw!

    This is pure wickedness! This comes at the right tie since I have more tomatoes off my plot than needed – Thanks!

    cheers!
    GAbi @ Mamaliga.com

  2. 2 Jacqui said at 11:13 am on August 26th, 2009:

    these look so fresh and delicious! and cute! definitely have to make them.

  3. 3 Stacey Snacks said at 12:08 pm on August 26th, 2009:

    One word for this dish: BEAUTIFUL!

  4. 4 Julie said at 12:54 pm on August 26th, 2009:

    Those look so yummy, although I’m sure I’d be the only one at my house who would eat them. Maybe I could make these for me and everyone else can have pb&j!

  5. 5 Nicole said at 12:59 pm on August 26th, 2009:

    Those tomatoes look amazing!!

  6. 6 tara said at 3:27 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    These look delicious; it is funny that I adore corn, tomatoes and cilantro together in so many ways, but I never thought of this incarnation. Brilliant.

  7. 7 dee said at 4:21 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    i’ve been looking for a healthy new recipe, so thanks! i’m think i might try it out tonight!

  8. 8 CatKool said at 6:11 pm on August 28th, 2009:

    Would it still taste good if I substituted bread crumbs for panko?

  9. 9 Emily said at 2:00 am on August 30th, 2009:

    This looks delicious! I will have to keep my eyes open for some good sized tomatoes…

  10. 10 Christine said at 12:17 pm on August 31st, 2009:

    These look really, really delish! And I have some great home grown big tomatoes sitting on my countertop right now that would be perfect for this dish. Can’t wait to give it a try!

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