Ah, Christmas is over! Seeing as though all of us have been shoving our faces for the past few days, I thought it might be nice to skip a dessert and cook something relatively healthy. To put things in perspective, my holiday diet consisted of pies, pumpkin rolls, mexican cheese dips and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. I’m about ready to collapse.

Only a short time ago, I was a hater of tomatoes. I was never a very picky eater but for some reason tomatoes made the small list of things I wouldn’t put in my mouth (this, of course, did not include the king of all condiments, ketchup). I’m glad I got over it because these are pretty darn good!

3 plum tomatoes (any kind would really work)
3 slices of bread, toasted and ground into crumbs (whatever you have! I used wheat)
1/2+ c. parmesan cheese
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tbs minced garlic
2 tbs fresh parsley, chopped
5+ tbs Olive or vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut tomatoes in half and squeeze out the seeds and rind into a bowl then set aside. In a medium sauce pan, cook garlic and onions in oil until tender. Add onion mixture, parsley, bread crumbs, parmesan and salt and pepper to the bowl with tomato seeds. Mix well. Add salt and pepper to each tomato shell, then stuff with mixture. Top with a little more olive oil and cheese, then bake for 20 minutes or until the tomato is soft and the crumbs are golden brown.

Note for making great tomatoes: This would be FANTASTIC if I had some fresh basil! I already had parsley, so I figured I’d use it up… but if you have the chance I’d switch it! These are VERY easy to make and have quite a neat presentation!