Spanish Style Stuffed Veggies

This is a simple dinner to put together and delicious to boot. The filling will stuff 4 largish tomatoes or as I did, two tomatoes and two medium zucchinis. You can increase the protein by replacing the brown rice with grated tempeh if you like, the texture is very similar. 

I highly recommend cooking a big batch of brown rice and freezing the leftovers in dinner sized portions. It makes recipes like this one and fried rice a snap to put together and is *way* less expensive than buying the pre-cooked stuff.

Spanish Style Stuffed Veggies

2 tomatoes

2 zucchinis (or two additional tomatoes)

1 link veggie chorizo, casing removed

1 smallish tomato plus the pulp of the hollowed tomatoes, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup cooked brown rice 

3 oz queso fresco, crumbled (optional, can also substitute crumbled tofu or cubed soy cheese)

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450* F and adjust the top rack to the top middle position. Grease a small sheet pan.

Find the side on which the tomatoes will stand upright (probably upside down), that will be the bottom. Slice off the top about 1/2 inch down, or enough that you can remove the pulp and stuff it without too much trouble. Hollow out the tomatoes and chop and set aside the pulp. Slice a thin piece off one side of the zucchini so it will stand still (give it "feet"). Slice zucchini in half length wise and hollow out both sides of each. Lightly sprinkle the insides of the  tomatoes and zucchini with salt and pepper and set aside. 

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add chorizo*. Cook 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add chopped tomato, tomato pulp, and brown rice. Stir to incorporate and cook until juice from tomatoes starts to absorb, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the queso fresco. 

Stuff the tomatoes and replace tops. Stuff all 4 pieces of zucchini, just so filling is flush with the edges. Fit zucchini back together and place the tomatoes and zucchini on the prepared baking sheet. Spray well with olive oil spray and sprinkle the tops with salt and pepper. 

Bake 20-25 minutes, until the veggies have shriveled a bit, the tops have developed good spotty color, and the filling is hot. Remove from oven and allow to stand about 5 minutes.

Serve with fresh guacamole.

* I am sure a chopped or grated homemade chorizo will work great here, you just may need to add a bit of oil to the pan to prevent sticking. I added no additional oil because the Trader Joe's veggie chorizo has plenty in it already.