I became a serious evangelist for yemista (the Greek term for baked stuffed vegetables) last summer when I traveled around the Aegean. Before that I was a bit of a hater when it came to stuffed vegetable side dishes. They always just seemed a bit hokey and disappointing as a vehicle, like a stale ABP bread bowl.
But that all changed in Greece. And now stuffing whole tomatoes with arborio rice, diced zucchini, and plenty of herbs is one of my favorite vegetarian meals. It’s also an amazing way to use up the last of the season’s tomatoes. Because lezbehonest, we’re all running a little low on ideas right about now…
If you want a visual how-to, watch me whip up these cutie tomatoes on my Healthination show Gluten-Free Tasty. For the original recipe and to read all about Elias, the chef I lovingly refer to as the Greek Chuck Norris, who made me fall in love with Yemista, click here.
What a cute video! These look so good, I’ve been trying a few stuffed tomato recipes- looks like this is another one to add to the list!
hooray! thanks Mary!
Masterful video – and I’m swamped with tomatoes that people bring me from their overflowing gardens, so this is the perfect recipe.
Wonderful video Phoebe!!! We were so glad to see that you cooked Yemista! You almost got the pronunciation right as well!!! It’s pronounced yeh-mee-STA, like moussaKA (the stress is on the last syllable) 🙂 Don’t get this the wrong way, we just wanted to tell you how we call the dish here:):):)
We loved what you did with this Greek classic.You created a version which is VERY interesting for us, who are used to cooking the same yemista for years:):)
You added zucchini and jalapenos! This sounds so good! We sometimes add some eggplant (skinned) cubes in this, haven’t tried the zucchini for some strange reason:)
And of course haven’t tried jalapenos!
Moreover, we never cooked the rice before adding it. And we reaaaaally want to see how this tastes!
Thank you for sharing a beautiful yemista dish dear Phoebe!
Off we go to see you next creations:)
xoxoxo
ahhhh thank you for correcting me!! i feel so embarrassed now making this recipe “in front of you.” I hope that I didn’t totally stray on authenticity. You’ll have to give me your tips to make them better if I did something wrong besides the pronunciation 🙂
Hahahaha you didn’t do anything wrong dearest Phoebe!:):) You simply changed the a bit the classic recipe, and made it your own, which is a good thing! We really want to try this version ourselves as well, as mentioned, which means that it’s 100% “approved” by your fellow Greek blogging friends in Athens:):):)
Have a beautiful weekend!
Lots of love from sunny Athens!
xoxoxo
haha ok – well I hope it will be!! Thanks for all the encouragement! xo