Triple Tomato Pasta

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chop up
• 1/4- 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 3/4 - 1 cup heirloom cherry tomatoes, chopped up into quarters
• 1 can(15 oz) chicken- do NOT drain  or 2 cooked diced chicken breasts 
• 10 fresh basil leaves chopped or 2-3 tsp dried basil flakes
• 1/4 of large onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp garlic
• butter
• water (about 1/2 cup-3/4 cup or more)
• salt and pepper to taste
• pasta
• parmesan

DIRECTIONS:

1. In large skillet melt butter and saute onion and garlic powder until translucent.
2. Add in sundried tomatoes with 1/2 cup water, simmer covered for 5-10 mins, or until slightly soft
3. Add in chicken, fresh tomatoes, paste, basil, and salt and pepper and another 1/4-1/2 cup water and simmer for 5-10 mins.
4. Cook 1 box of pasta as directed (I used a spinach spaghetti), drain, and add 1/4 cup parmesan and toss to coat.
5. Add in chicken/tomato mixture and serve, garnish with a bit more parm if you want!

Melting the butter & sauteing the onion & garlic powder

Add in the sun-dried tomatoes and water (not pictured)

Chopped up tomatoes and basil. Despite my hatred of raw tomatoes, aren't these heirloom tomatoes beautiful.

finished chicken, tomato concoction, ready for the parmesan pasta!

Pasta with parm, toss around to spread cheese around

Voila!

If you like cheese, add more...me gusta queso!

SO healthy and delcious

Caprese Salad

Light refreshing salad to have year round. My husband was craving a good caprese and I wanted to deliver but sadly good looking, fresh basil was unavailable so I made due with dried but it actually turned out quite yummy!!

INGREDIENTS:'

• Several Ripe Red Tomatoes
• Large Mozzerella Cheese Ball (slice it into 1/4" sections the cut the round slices into four pie shapes
• Fresh Basil leaves (w)ashed and dried) or dried Basil
• Balsalmic Vinegar

****I lined the plate with sliced cucumbers and crumbled fat free feta (this is great for fellow non-tomato eating comrades like me)****

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place 1 cup Balsalmic Vinegar into small sauce pot, without lid, and heat over low heat until the liquid had reduced by half (meaning cooked and evaporated to half the liquid level you started with...so to 1/2 cup approximately). The vinegar should be a bit thicker and less tart.
2. While vinegar is reducing slice tomatoes and mozzarella into 1/4" slices and arrange by alternating them (tomato, mozz, basil, tomato, mozz, etc...). If you don't have any fresh basil leaves you can sprinkle dried basil into reducing balsalmic and on top of sliced cheese and tomato.
3. Allow reduced balsalmic to cool a bit before drizzling on top of cheese and tomato.

Balsalmic reducing.

Sliced tomato and Mozzerella sliced and the cut into quarters.

Beginning to stack and alternate the mozzerella and tomato

Adding basil to reduced balsalmic.

 

Basil Sprinkled Mozz & Tomatoes

Veggie plate Drizzled with reduced vinegar

We nearly missed eatting dinner because we just scarfed this down!! As you can see from the above pics I lined the plate with cucumber slices and fat free feta (remember I don't like tomatoes).  I did have my fair share of mozzerella though :o)

Not-so-fried, not-so-green tomatoes

As I have mentioned before, I dislike tomatoes in their raw state, but I do love tomato products and foods one of which is fried green tomatoes but sometimes the green ones are hard to find so I substituted with yellowy, orange ones but any firm non-red tomato would work. I love this recipe because it takes an unhealthy fried comfort food, keeps the flavor all while losing the fried oil and greasiness.

INGREDIENTS:

• Two tomatoes (medium size), sliced about 1/4 inch thick
• 1/2 cup AP unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup bisquik Heart Health baking mix
• 1/4 cup corn meal
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• egg whites

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix all dry ingredients. 
2. Take sliced tomatoes and dip them in egg whites until well covered.
3. Coat them with the dry mix until well covered.
4. Place on baking sprayed sheet pan or baking sheet pan lined with non-stick mat.
5. Bake at 375 degrees until you notice browning (10 mins), flip and continue to bake until well browned on both sides. (about 15-20 mins total)

Dry ingredients

  

Slice tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick

  

Have a little station order set up to speed up production. Take slices soak in egg white, batter them, place on sheet.

  

This is in the oven about half way through cooking, I turned them when they looked like this.

This is the yummy tomatoes finished. So golden brown and not an ounce of greasy oil

We had them with cheesy grits and green beans. I also made a homemade remoulade from stuff I found, it was ok, but I needed proper remoulade ingredients. 

  

Light summer salad & Friendly Friday

INGREDIENTS:

• cherry sized heirloom tomatoes
• reduced or fat free feta cheese
• cucumbers, sliced in half, seeded, quartered and chopped
• fat free vinaigrette

DIRECTIONS:
Just dump in a bowl and mix...pretty simple but the results are amazing...so amazing I will call it magic.

You make this-then put it in the fridge to set and marinate. While waiting for dinner to finish baking, you decide to shower and when you come back THIS is what you have left...

...3 tomatoes.  I don't even like tomatoes so I had nothing ( well I did scrap some marinated feta off the bottom as best I could to try and savor what my husband and three year old DEVOURED ). Perhaps I should make more next time, or not shower HA HA