Cooking With ALDI - Greek Stuffed Tomatoes

Hey, this new segment has made it to a second post. Queue the celebratory fireworks! Yay!!! So onto this weeks ALDI recipe. I tried to find something easy with just a few ingredients 'cause even after last time's amazing bean dip I'm still skeptical that this is going to work out. With that in mind, this week's adventure in ALDI cooking is Greek Stuffed Tomatoes!

 The Goods

As a reminder, we got some rules.

1. Use the specific ALDI products listed in the recipe whenever available.
2. If the product in the recipe is not available, substitute with a suitable ALDI product.
3. If rules 1 and 2 can not be followed, purchase item from another grocer OR if the item is deemed not integral to the recipe, leave out altogether.



I found the Rice Bowl rice, Stonemill oregano, vine tomatoes and Carlini olive oil. I didn't see edenVale feta so I grabbed some Specially Selected feta. I already owned crushed red pepper flakes and a lemon so I skipped those but ALDI did have both. Nice work ALDI, our first complete recipe!

So this was a pretty easy recipe. I cooked the rice bowl which is a Rice-a-Roni knock off (and a pretty good knock off too) and mixed it with the feta, oregano, red pepper and olive oil. I scooped out the tomatoes, which was surprisingly difficult to do. One of the tomatoes was moldy - boooo ALDI - and the others were pretty soft on the outside but pretty firm on the inside which made it hard to get to guts out without tearing the tomato. Oh and the tomatoes came in a four pack so I only made three, not six. I cooked them at 400 degrees for 15 minutes and then another 5, so 20 all together.

Tomato, Tomahto.

I let them cool a few minutes and then tasted. Hey, these are pretty good. The pepper flakes add a nice little bit of heat but not too much. I might cut down a little on the oregano but otherwise this is a pretty easy and good recipe. If you like rice-a-roni, feta and oregano you'll like these!

Here's what it cost me -

4 large vine tomatoes $1.79
Rice Bowl Chicken Flavor Rice and Vermicelli Mix $.69
Specially Selected Feta Cheese Crumbles $1.99
Carlini Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided - $3.29
Stonemill Essentials Oregano - $.99
Crushed Red Pepper - Free
lemon zest - Free

Total $8.75

Obviously I had a whole lot of left over olive oil so I'd probably subtract $3.00 from the total if you really want to know what it's going to cost you.

Here's the recipe -

Ingredients:

6 large vine tomatoes
1 6.9-oz. package Rice Bowl Chicken Flavor Rice and Vermicelli Mix
4 oz. edenVale Feta Cheese Crumbles
2 tbsp. Carlini Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
1 tsp. Stonemill Essentials Oregano
1/2 tsp. Stonemill Essentials Crushed Red Pepper
1/8 tsp. lemon zest

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly grease a small baking dish and set aside.
2. Slice the top off of each tomato and scoop out the flesh and seeds, leaving the tomato shell.
3. Cook the rice in the microwave or on the stovetop according to the package directions.
4. To the rice, add feta cheese, 1 tablespoon olive oil, oregano, crushed red pepper and lemon zest. Mix together gently.
5. Stuff the tomatoes with the rice mixture and place in baking dish. Drizzle with remaining olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes, or until tomatoes have softened and tops are golden brown.

I'm giving these Greek Stuffed Tomatoes an L. They were pretty tasty and easy to make. A nice side dish. 
Good work again ALDI!