Baked Green Tomatoes

Baked Green Tomatoes

August 30, 2012 by ·

Have you been outside recently? It’s super hot here! With that said, what better time than to tell my recipe for fried green tomatoes- BAKED! I absolutely love fried green tomatoes. The sharp flavor covered by a crispy crust. These little guys are only available in a fine window though because within a few days of picking them, they will begin to ripen and turn red. Not that red tomatoes aren’t wonderful, I’ve posted plenty of recipes with wonderful red tomatoes. Green tomatoes are the best for “fried” tomatoes though. There’s nothing like sitting down on a hot summer day to a glass of iced tea and a plate of green tomatoes.

The breading for these is where the action is. You can put it on just about anything! J even made chicken strips the other night with the leftover breading, and loved them. That should tell you something. While I love a good breading, the truth is, you can’t just have flour or bread crumbs. There’s an art to the stoichiometry. (sorry, I’m a scientist) A good breading takes spices to flavor it, enough crust to add crunch, but not so much that all you’re eating is breading. Yes, yes. There’s an art to breading and it must be perfect! While I won’t claim that mine is the only way, I think it’s a pretty good way! J and I like it at least, and that’s why I’m sharing.

Fried Green Tomato Breading

  • 1/2 cup breadcrumbs finely crumbled (I used sourdough)
  • 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon FRESHLY ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika

Cut your tomatoes thinly, this will help to make sure they cook and become soft. Mix all your breading ingredients together. I take extra special care to make sure all the spices are mixed. Lay a tomato slice in your bowl of breading and then flip so the other side is laying down. This allows the tomato to lightly soak up the breading and become covered in it. There should just be a super thin layer of breading. There’s no reason to cake it, the tomatoes are full of flavor, we’re just enhancing! I lined a baking pan with aluminum foil, but there’s no reason to use oil what so ever!! Cook at 350F for 15-20 minutes each side. You’ll notice the face laying on the pan is where these babies brown so don’t think they’re not cooking.

As I said, the best way to enjoy these are to go outside on a nice summer day and drink some iced tea! 

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Summer Daal (Indian Lentils)

Summer Daal (Indian Lentils)

August 7, 2012 by ·

 

I love spicy Indian food. The complexity of flavors warms my heart and soul. Especially Indian curries. The sauce is rich, spicy, sweet, salty. The vegetables are filling and healthy. With grains and/or legumes, Indian curries become wonderful, hearty meals. Nothing makes you feel better than curling up on the couch next to a fire and eating an Indian curry. But have you looked outside? In this heat, there is no way that I’m going to make a hot Indian curry in my kitchen and heat the whole house up. That’s the great thing about this daal though, it has all the flavor of a great Indian lentil dish, without the intense heat from cooking.

 

If you don’t want to make your own curry powder, feel free to use a store bought curry powder. My favorites are Madras curry powders, but any Indian curry powder will work. Just remember- this is not the bright yellow “mild curry powder”. You won’t be disappointed if you make your own though. My starter mix is 1 part chili powder, 1/2 coriander powder, 1/2 cumin powder, 1 part garam masala, 1/2 part garlic powder. You can play with this mixture as much as you like. It’s my go-to mixture for Indian curries; however, I adjust it regularly depending on my mood. Sometimes I add tumeric, although be careful because a little bit goes a long way.

For faster cooking when I get home from work, I like to soak my lentils throughout the day in the vegetable broth. If you forget though, it will just take a bit longer for them to cook. To make spicier, add the peppers earlier. If you like extremely spicy food, do not de-seed and add chilis in the olive oil so that the chilis release more oil into the dish.

Indian Daal

  • 1 cup dried red lentils
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 large eggplant, salted and rinsed, then sliced and quartered
  • 1 large zucchini, sliced and quartered
  • 1 large serrano chili, de-seeded and diced
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons curry powder

Heat the broth and lentils on high until the broth begins to boil. When it begins to boil, add 1 tablespoon curry powder and reduce to low and let simmer till the lentils soak up the broth.

When lentils are finished cooking, take aside let them cool while cooking the vegetables.

On medium heat, warm olive oil. When the olive oil is hot and pooling into puddles, add curry powder and mix into the olive oil. Add the zuchinni and eggplant to the pan and continue to stir while vegetables cook. It will take around 15 minutes for the vegetables to brown and become soft. Once the vegetables become soft, stir in the green chilis. Cook for a minute, and then serve.

 Nutrition Information (3 servings)
Calories 416
Total fat 11.7g
Saturated fat 1.63g
Sodium 1245mg (depends on curry powder)
Total Carbohydrate 56.24g

What’s your favorite spicy summer dish? 

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Summer Oatmeal

May 28, 2012 by ·

It’s hot here, I mean really hot!

All the plants are feeling it! The poor little hydrangea looks like it’s been run over and I watered it this morning before I left for work. Even the herbs look tired and they’ll last through anything.

A warm breakfast just isn’t doing the trick these mornings. I love oatmeal though, it keeps me full, is a whole grain, can be flavored so many different ways, and is fairly cheap. So what’s a girl to do? Summer Oatmeal Muffins of course!

Yum! Look at all the oatmeal texture and color from the blueberries!

The best part is, these can be made up in little time and a whole batch will last at least for a few days! Did I mention, these are healthy and contain NO OIL! And unlike most oil free muffins, these don’t call for 20 different ingredients!

Summer Oatmeal

  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup pressed oats, not instant
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • fruits/chocolate chips/spices to customize (I used 1 cup blueberries and 1/4 cup dried, unsweetened coconut)
First, preheat oven to 350F. Then, place the oats and milk in a bowl, allowing the oats to slowly soak up some of the moisture.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, egg, applesauce, baking powder, sugar, and salt and mix. When mixed, add the oats and milk mixture slowly until completely mixed in. At this point you can add any spices, fruits, chocolate chips, candy, and syrups you like. I love blueberries so I tossed them in dried coconut flakes and added them to the mixture.
I used a non-stick muffin pan without spray, however if you are worried about yours sticking, feel free to use a light spray. I like mini muffins so I placed mine in the oven at 350F for 10 minutes. If you like traditional size muffins, bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes. Let the muffins cool before you remove them from the pan.
I took a plate outside to enjoy while I watered the flowers in hope that they will perk up after seeing these delicious muffins!
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