You say tomato; I say tomato

Good morning blog friends. Did you miss me? What can I say, I think I took Wordless Wednesdays to heart and forgot to reappear. Here I am...

Bean has been teething so she has sucked all the the energy out of me. At least the horrible mood has an explanation. The tooth did break through and soon we will be able to see the top middle one. I can't believe that in two weeks she is one. Where did the time go? One minute she was a newborn and the next she is entering toddler years.

Now for some adventures in eating......A recipe that I have been meaning to make is one from Kelsey at The Naptime Chef. By the way, have you guys read her posts on Babble? If not, you really should visit her over there. Okay, back to the subject on hand....Baked Tomatoes with Parmesan and Herbs. Tomato have been a staple at the farmer's markets these days. When Bean and I went for our weekly trip some beautiful beefsteak tomato were calling my name. This was the prime opportunity to make a delicious side dish that can be used for a variety of main entrees. The steps to make this dish were very simple and it uses staple ingredients in my pantry so it was easy for me to prepare without having to run to the grocery store as well. My summary of the process in pictures is below, but if you visit Kelsey's blog she has a webisode that details the process of making this wonderful side dish.

Health, Happiness, Hamstrings makes The Naptime Chef Baked Tomatoes with Parmesan and Herbs.

Ingredients
5 large tomatoes
1 cup EVOO
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (recipe calls for freshly grated, but I had already grated on hand)
1/2 cup bread crumbs (recipe calls for plain or panko, but I had Italian herb plain bread crumb
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley



I followed Kelsey directions:

Her directions called for preheating the oven to 350 degrees. I wasn't going to be cooking the tomatoes until later that day so I started by cutting up the tomatoes:







Next I scooped out the seeds. Since I didn't have a grapefruit spoon like Kelsey suggest I used the next best thing on had.....one of Beans spoons. Was the perfect size and made it a breeze to get in the crevices. Then, nestle the tomatoes with the cut side up in a baking dish.



I drizzled the olive oil like she says and patted to make sure the tomatoes are nicely coated.



Then, I mixed the Parmesan, bread crumbs, and parsley. I patted even amounts into each tomatoes. Since I wasn't going to make them until that evening I covered them with plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator until dinner time. Here is what they looked like:

Since Kelsey's recipe indicates it take about 25 to 30 minutes to bake. I preheated the oven while I gave Bean a bath and put them in the oven while I read Bean her bedtime books. About 30 minutes later I opened the oven and this deliciousness greeted me:

I served the tomatoes with grilled chicken and of course a staple in this house Roasted Eggplant.


Enjoy your day blog friends. Mr. Man, Bean and I are off to lunch. Naptime Chef thank you for a fabulous summer recipe that utilizes staples at the farmers market and pantry (at least my pantry).

Colors of the Rainbow

Sorry for the late post (finally published it this morning). The hubby came home while I was cooking dinner and I got distracted. A good distraction I must say. :)

Jennifer and I did Mud Pond this morning. What a beautiful path. I have done the Rt. 6 off Buckshollow in Mahopac before, but all you see if back of businesses. The Mud Pond entrance is beautiful. We did 2 miles in a half an hour. Jennifer and I are getting ourselves ready for a 5k. This will be my first. The 5k we are doing is September 26 and is called the Tunnel to Towers Run/Walk.

So now to eats:

Breakfast:
1 Fage plain Greek yogurt with Bob Red Mills gluten free rolled oats and blackberries (they had a sale at Stop & Shop music to my ears)

Unfortunately for some reason it did NOT hold me over so I ended up having a mini Cashew Lara bar.

Lunch:
Hubby and I went out of a date (or at least of "work" date-hey these days I have to get what I can. :)Most important thing was we spent some alone time together.)

Had calamari as an appetizer which I shared with Mr. Man (aka Hubby). As a main dish I had roasted chicken. I only ate part of it because I was full from the appetizer....this is progress! Also skipped the rice and beans and only had a few of the fries.

Snack:
Plum from the farmers market Bean and I went to on Wednesday.

Dinner:
Had the left over chicken from lunch and did eat the rice and beans. Nixed the fries. Now to a recipe:

As a veggie I made Dinosaur Kale with Rainbow Swiss Chard and Spring Garlic.
At the farmers market I was talking to one of the farmers at Ryder Farms in Brewster, NY. She taught me a trick which is pretty self explanatory, but was very interesting. When choosing a type of swiss chard to purchase there is a rainbow of colors. I didn't know which one to choose, but she told me that with all veggies the color indicates one of its nutritional values. For example dark colors indicate that they are high in antioxidants and a more green veggie indicates there is more chlorophyll. I decided on the red red swiss chard.

Here is what I did:
First I chopped up 3 leaves of Dinosaur Kale and 2 leaves of Swiss Chard like so



Then I chopped up whole spring garlic head. Now that might sound like a lot of garlic, but spring garlic is much milder than the traditional garlic you get that the grocery store. I have just started using spring garlic and prefer it to the ones I usually get.



The method:
Preheat a skillet with 1 TBS of EVOO and spring garlic. Wait until garlic gets golden in color. Add greens and 4 TBS of H2O. Stir and cover. Watch the pan so the greens do not burn and add water if necessary. Finally add the juice of 1/2 lemon and then serve.

I ate the whole thing and loved every moment of it. I hope you do the same.

Bean and I are going to the farmers market this morning (keeping my fingers crossed-welcome to life with a baby.....the dictate the schedule) and will share my finds with you tonight (time permitting). Tonight we are off to have dinner with new friends we met. Can't wait for Bean to be entertained by two four year olds and an 16 month old. :)

Have a great day blog world friends.



Rainbow Swiss Chard/Dinosaur Kale (serves 1)
1 fresh spring garlic head
3 leaves dinosaur kale
2 leaves swiss chard (I had red)
4 TBS of water
Juice of 1/2 lemon.