Two Vegetarian Recipes

I promised Sumo that I would post these two recipes from my vegetarian week. Both are surprisingly tasty.

Spicy Walnut Tomatoes

1 TBSP raisins
2 TBSP orange juice
4 medium sized ripe tomatoes
1/3 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts
2 Tsp curry powder
1 small apple chopped

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Soak the raisins in the orange juice to soften.
Slice about a half inch off the stem end of each tomato and save the "lid".
With your fingers scoop out as much of the seeds and jelly as you can and then
scoop out the remaining pulp, chop coarsely and reserve.
Mix the reserved tomato pulp, rice, walnuts, drained raisins, curry powder and apple
and mix together.
Fill the hollowed out tomatoes with the mixture and top with the "lid".
Brush the tomatoes all over with olive oil.
Put in an oven proof dish and bake at 375 degrees for about twenty minutes.

You could use this same stuffing for other veggies like zucchini, small eggplant, or peppers. Just chop a whole fresh tomato instead of using the pulp.


Spicy Beet Soup

1 medium onion chopped
2 medium carrots chopped
2 ribs of celery chopped
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock heated
1/2 pound cooked beets chopped (I like the golden beets)
2 inch piece of fresh ginger minced
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
chopped parsely for garnish

Saute the onions, carrots and celery in a tablespoon of canola or olive oil for a few minutes.
Add the stock and simmer for about 20 minutes
Add the beets, lemon zest and ginger and cook for another 10 minutes or so.
Using a hand blender or food processor puree the soup until smooth.
Add the lemon juice and balsamic vinegar and reheat if necessary.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with the fresh parsley garnish.

I like to roast the beets to cook them as they develop a nice flavor, but you could boil them as well. I don't see why you couldn't use canned for frozen cooked beets in this recipe as well.