Tomatoes Stuffed with Brown Rice and Cheese

We've had a glorious weekend so far, all sunshine and blue sky and warm breezes. 

September is like that here. It is a month of shimmering shadows as the leaves prepare to make their departure in a blaze of glory.

But rain is in the forecast for most of the coming week, a rare turn of weather events.

The week just past was lovely, much more typical of late summer days here on the border of Wisconsin and Michigan. But it was busy, and I did not have much time to attend to my lovely stuffing tomatoes.

One night I needed an easy side dish, and there they were, easy to clean out as they have very little pulp and few seeds. I blended about two cups of brown rice with 1/4 cup of grated cheddar cheese and two heaping teaspoons of minced onions. I baked them for about 30 minutes in a 350-degree oven and topped with shaved Parmesan at the very end, allowing them a few more minutes so the cheese would melt.

The baked tomatoes gave this dish a wine-like richness. If you are watching carbs, this is a great way to keep servings small, as you can only get about 1/2 cup of rice inside the tomato.

Nothing exotic, certainly, but after posting a photo of the tomatoes, I wanted closure.

It was delicious.