Fifteen-minute cold, rice-stuffed tomatoes

These days my cooking solely involves opening and closing the fridge door and a lot of chopping. I barely glance towards my old friend the oven and even the stove has seen better days. I love you both dearly, I do, but I just can't get myself to add heat to heat. And so yes, I present you with yet another summer dish, with the promise of many roasts, soups and pies to come.

This is a 15-minute recipe because that is how long it takes the rice to cook. I did the prepping, chopping and mixing while feeding the baby, checking up every couple of minutes on my pre-schooler in the tub and setting the table. So it is extremely quick and easy, which is what I like and what this blog is all about. Ideas for dinner on a crazy week day.

This recipe is once again inspired by my mother-in-law, who first introduced me to this chilled version of the typical Italian recipe for rice-stuffed roasted tomatoes.

Ingredients

6 large tomatoes

1 cup of short grain rice

1 can of good quality tuna in olive oil

2/3 cup of black olives (I used Kalamata olives)

1/2 cup diced cheese

1 tbs mayonnaise

Bring a pot of water to the boil and throw in the rice, without adding salt as most of the ingredients are savory enough. Cut off but do not discard the tops of the tomato and scoop out the inside with a spoon. Save these parts and chop up the edible, solid parts. Put the tomatoes in the fridge so they stay cold while prepping the rest. Take the pits out of the olives and chop them into small pieces, like you previously did with the tomatoes. Drain the tuna and mix in with the other chopped up ingredients. Dice the cheese (swiss, fontina or any other kind you like, as long as it is not too hard) and add. I didn't have any cheese so I just mixed in about 2 tablespoons of parmesan and it worked great. Once you have drained the rice, rinse it with cold water and drain again. Mix in with the rest and add a little mayo to bring it all together. Stuff the tomatoe and serve immediately (or put back into the fridge if serving later) with some crusty bread and a glass of chilled white wine or a cold beer.

Cheers!