Tomatoes stuffed with some really great things

I was thumbing through a cookbook the other day looking for recipes (maybe one of my favorite pastimes) and I came across a recipe for stuffed tomatoes. They looked so good, but I didn't really have much of what the recipe called for (they were to be stuffed with risotto, and dipped in eggs and breadcrumbs), but I wanted to try something like it. I'm not crazy about stuffed peppers - I like the idea, but not the taste - and I don't like the idea of stuffing them with meat. So, I stuffed tomatoes with rice, quinoa, onions, spinach, and basil and made them for dinner tonight. They were phenomenal! So flavorful, easy, healthy, and beautiful. I'm sure there are a million recipes out there that are similar to this one, and it's really easy to change and adapt, but this is what we had. Reminds me of Egyptian mahshi... mmmm, it was one of my favorite dishes there. 

Stuffed Tomatoes

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup basmati rice - any rice would work

1/2 cup quinoa (rinsed thoroughly, so it's not bitter)

2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

2 tablespoons of butter

1 small onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp dried basil, more or less (or fresh if you have it)

handful of chopped spinach leaves

salt & pepper to taste

6 tomatoes

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat that oven to 400F.

Cook the rice and quinoa together with broth instead of water. 

Sauté the onions and garlic in the butter until tender. Add basil, salt, and pepper, remove from heat, and add spinach. 

When the rice/quinoa is cooked, mix it together with the sautéed mixture.

Slice the tops off of the tomatoes, and carefully scoop out the insides. Fill each tomato with the filling, and put the top back on. Arrange the tomatoes in a small baking dish with sides, and squeeze them in there together together so they can't tip over. Bake at 400F for 20-30 minutes, or until the tomatoes are tender. Serve hot or at room temperature.

There may be a little rice leftover, but it's so good, you can just eat it on the side.