Barley Stuffed Tomatoes

Last night, I made a delicious recipe that I felt I had to share. I love tomatoes, but cannot always find fun things to do with them, and my husabnd tends to complain if we just have sliced, raw tomatoes as a side(though I would happily eat this daily). This was a good solution for that problem. We both thoroughly enjoyed the dish, and it was a fun to way to eat some veggies.

1/2 uncooked barley
4 tomatoes on the vine
1/2 small white onion, chopped small
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 green bell pepper,chopped small
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons chilli powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
Shredded cheese(optional)


1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Cook barley. To do this, boil about 1 1/2 cups of water or broth. When boiling, add uncooked barley, lower heat, and simmer until soft(about 35 minutes).
3. While barley is cooking, slice off the very top of the tomatoes and scoop out the pulp and juice. Reserve pulp and liquid.
4. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook for about 2 minutes.
5. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
6. Add green pepper, spices, and about 1/4 cup of reserved juice from tomatoes. Lower heat and cook about 10 minutes, adding more liquid if necessary.
7. Add cilantro to pepper mixture, and cook about 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
8. Mix pepper mixture with cooked barley.
9. Lightly spray a square baking dish with cooking spray. Place tomatoes in, open side up, and fill with the barley-pepper mixture. Poor about 1/4 cup reserved tomato liquid into the bottom of the baking dish, and cook for about 10 minutes.
10. If adding cheese, sprinkle it on top each tomato and place back in the oven 5 minutes(if not adding cheese, leave the dish in the oven for 5 more minutes)
11. Remove from oven and let stand at least 5 minutes before eating.


I'd have to say, I was concerned this recipe wasn't going to work, but overall, I think it turned out great. I served it with some spiced black beans on the side for protein, but I'm sure it would also go great with grilled chicken or other meats.