Cheesy Baked Tomatoes

Saw this on Facebook, and finally got around to making them. They're really quite tasty and pretty healthy as well. I changed the recipe up a little to fit what we had at home.

4 tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 oz Asiago cheese, shredded
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450° F.
Place tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet.
Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl, and top tomatoes with mixture.
Mist lightly with non-fat cooking spray and bake until the tomatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes.

Smokey Sweet Potato Souffle

I keep seeing recipes that I'd like to try, so I'm adding a "TO BE TRIED" label for those recipes. Once I try them, I'll update the pose and remove that label.

Saw this while I was watching 5 Ingredient Fix on Food Network with Little Lady #1 recently. Looks fantastic!

Ingredients

• 5 pounds sweet potatoes, pricked with a knife
• 1 pound sliced bacon
• 1 chipotle in adobo, chopped, plus 2 teaspoons adobo sauce
• 1/4 cup Grade B maple syrup
• 5 eggs, separated
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Roast the potatoes on sheet tray until fully cooked, about 1 hour. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile cook the bacon in large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels, reserving the rendered bacon fat. Chop bacon and set aside, reserving 1/4 cup for garnish.

Peel the sweet potatoes and mash. Add the potatoes to a large bowl. Stir in the chopped chipotle, adobe sauce, maple syrup, chopped bacon and egg yolks. Mix together until combined. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

In a separate large bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add 1/3 of whipped egg whites to sweet potato mixture and fold to create a lighter base. Fold in remaining whites until just incorporated, leaving some white streaks.

Grease a 2 quart baking dish with some of the reserved bacon fat and gently pour in sweet potato souffle mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining chopped bacon. Put the baking dish on a sheet tray and bake 40 minutes.

Traditional Slaw Salad

I love Cole Slaw and was introduced to Broccoli Slaw last year - not bad! I found the recipe below on a bag of Broccoli Slaw and tried it out. It's pretty good!


(I know this isn't some fancy recipe, and it came off the back of a bag of shredded broccoli, but remember that this is a place to compile recipes)


Like all Cole Slaws, you could definitely add raisins, golden raisins or dried cranberries to the mix.


Ingredients
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/4 cup vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
12 oz Cole Slaw or Broccoli Slaw mix


Directions
Blend together first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add slaw mix and gently toss until coated. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Asparagus with Lemon Vinaigrette

A friend told me about a recipe he found in a grocery store magazine for a lemon vinaigrette for asparagus and it sounded amazing. I decided to give it a shot for Easter dinner and it was fantastic!

Ingredients

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon fresh Thyme leaves, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt or sea salt

pinch fresh cracked pepper

2 pounds fresh asparagus stalks, washed and trimmed

Directions

In a jar, combine olive oil, lemon juice, Thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. Cover and shake vigorously until combined. Store in the refrigerator and serve at room temperature.

Steam asparagus until crisp-tender; do not overcook! 

Drizzle vinaigrette over asparagus to coat lightly.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Easy Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots

Found these for Easter dinner.


Ingredients
16 ounces baby carrots
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup water
dash salt
pepper, to taste


Directions
In a medium saucepan, combine the baby carrots with remaining ingredients. Stir to blend ingredients. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling (uncovered) for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until carrots are tender and the liquid has evaporated.
Serves 4 to 6.

Kale Chips

Ingredients

1 bunch of Kale

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp Cider Vinegar

Salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Remove stem, and tear into chip sized pieces. Wash and spin in salad spinner.
3. Toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp cider vinegar. Massage into kale lightly.
4. Spread evenly into single layer on baking sheet(s). Sprinkle lightly with salt or seasoned salt. Bake for about 15 mins or until crispy - start checking around 8 min.

Boston Baked Beans

I'd been looking for a good baked bean recipe for a few years. I'd tried a couple and none were ever very good. I made one last call to my friends and family for a recipe that rocked, and my bud Martha came through! These beans are fantastic!

Thanks to Martha for sharing! Check out her food blog - Throwing Spoons

From Cook's Illustrated - Published January 1, 2003. 

Ingredients

4 oz salt pork, trimmed of rind and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 oz bacon (2 slices), cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped fine

1/2 cup mild molasses

1 1/2 tablespoons brown mustard

1 pound dried small white beans (navy or pea beans, about 2 cups), rinsed and picked over

Table salt

1 tablespoon mild molasses

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

Ground black pepper

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 300°F.
2. Add salt pork and bacon to 8-quart Dutch oven; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and most fat is rendered, about 7 minutes. Add onion and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 8 minutes.
3. Add 1/2 cup molasses, mustard, beans, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, and 9 cups water; increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil. Cover pot and set in oven.
4. Bake until beans are tender, about 4 hours, stirring once after 2 hours.  Remove lid and continue to bake until liquid has thickened to syrupy consistency, 1 to 1 1/2 hours longer.
5. Remove beans from oven; stir in remaining tablespoon of molasses, vinegar, and additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Why this recipe works: To create a Boston Baked Beans recipe packed with multiple levels of intense flavor yet traditional enough to make Fannie Farmer proud, we started with a combination of salt pork and bacon browned in a Dutch oven before adding dried small white beans. Cider vinegar gave our sauce tanginess while mustard and molasses boosted its flavor. Removing the lid for the last hour of cooking reduced the sauce in our Boston Baked Beans recipe to a syrupy, intensified state.

The beans can be made ahead. After cooking, cool them to room temperature and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Serves: 4 to 6

Ginger and Garlic Broccoli

My bud Jan met this the very first time I met her. She's fabulous and so is this dish!


Original recipe from Epicurious

Ingredients
1 small bunch broccoli (about 1 1/4 pounds)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons very thin matchsticks of peeled fresh gingerroot
1 garlic clove, sliced thin
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
seasoned rice vinegar


Directions

1. Cut broccoli into 1-inch flowerets. Trim and peel stems and cut into 1/4-inch slices.
2. In a 10-inch heavy skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and cook gingerroot and garlic, swirling skillet occasionally, until just golden. With a slotted spoon transfer gingerroot and garlic to paper towels to drain.
3. Add broccoli to skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until browned well, about 5 minutes. In a small bowl stir together water, soy sauce, and vinegar. Add mixture to skillet and cook until most liquid is evaporated, about 1 minute. Serve broccoli sprinkled with gingerroot and garlic.