Baked, Stuffed Tomatoes

We have had stuffed tomatoes before - but we've always used some sort of meat to do the stuffing.  This time, I wanted to skip the meat, as this was going to be a side dish for another recipes - steamed fish packets.  I've adapted this recipe based on the ideas I got from reading other recipes, and it turned out wonderful!

Baked, Stuffed Tomatoes

Preheat oven to 400f.

8 tomatoes. I used on-the-vine tomatoes, because they're bigger and cheaper at this time of year.
1 cup couscous
1/4 c. (or more) feta cheese
1/2 onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 T. olive oil
1 T. unsalted butter
1 c. water or broth

1. Cut the core from the tomato, and then using a spoon, remove the juice and pulp from them. I wasn't REALLY precise, but the more you leave it, the soggier your couscous will get.
2. Melt butter in a skillet, add olive oil.
3. Add onions and garlic- saute' until they're soft.
4. Add dry couscous. The couscous will absorb the butter/oil mixture. Toast the couscous for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add water, a little at a time, and allow the couscous to cook - probably 5 minutes or so - just until the water is fully absorbed.  I typically use chicken broth to cook couscous, but I used plain water this time.  When it was finished, I sprinkled it with garlic salt. Remove from heat.
6. When you're ready to stuff the tomatoes, toss the feta with the couscous.  You don't want the cheese to melt in the pan, so let the pan sit for a couple of minutes to cool.  Add the feta and gently toss with the couscous.
7. Using a spoon or ice cream scoop as I did, stuff the tomatoes. 
8. Place tomatoes in a baking dish - I lined mine with fresh spinach, but they wound up drying out. lol
9. Bake for 20 minutes.  Enjoy!

PS - I apologize for the poor quality of the photos - my camera phone just isn't up to the task!

Yummy, HEALTHY Banana Bread

I know, it's been forever since I've posted here. The truth is, I just don't think in terms of blogging much anymore, because of course, I've continued to cook!   But in any case, here I am, posting a recipe that I've adapted from The Wishful Chef.  I omitted the dates that were called for, as I had none, and substituted some vanilla nonfat yogurt. For the topping, I replaced the optional brown sugar with organic sugar.  It came out simply delicious.

Yummy!

 

The Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 2 tablespoons rolled oats 
• 1/2 cup vanilla nonfat yogurt 
• 2 eggs 
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted 
• 4-6 ripe bananas 
• 1/4 cup pecans or chocolate chips (optional) (I used neither)
  
• Crumb Topping
  
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons butter, (I melted it)
• 1 tablespoon rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon organic sugar (optional)

 The Process:

Combine the crumb topping ingredients and set aside.  Spray or butter the bottom of your loaf pan and preheat your oven to 350 (F).

Start by having a willing pair of hands squish your bananas up while you do things like measure the flour, baking soda, and other dry ingredients together into a bowl.   You blend in your banana, eggs, butter, yogurt and once it's well combined, you can blend it into the dry ingredients. Just pour into the loaf pan, sprinkle that topping you made earlier and set aside, and bake for 1 hour.  It really is a very easy recipe, and SOOOOO good!  Of course, being healthy doesn't hurt either! :)

Enjoy!

Let's go to Philly!

Ok, that was a lame title, I admit.  I've been dealing with some pretty intense stuff that life has been throwing at me the last several months, which is why I haven't blogged about food in so very long.  Part of it was because, for several weeks, I couldn't EAT any.  Then after that, it just sort of slid downhill.  I apologize.

But I'm here with a yummy, YUMMY creation that I came up with using some Philadelphia Cooking Cream.  It's new and I got a coupon for some FREE, so hey, why not!  I have actually made this recipe three times since the Cooking Cream came out - I've tried it with all three of the flavored blends -
Italian Cheese & Herb Cooking Creme, Savory Garlic Cooking Creme and Santa Fe Cooking Creme.It really works well with all three flavors!

So here's the recipe:

• 3 boneless chicken breasts
• Frozen veggies of your liking. I used italian green beans.
• Philadelphia Cooking Cream - name your flavor
• chicken broth - approximately 1 cup
  

Cut the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. In a large frying pan, cook the chicken in the chicken broth - basically, you're poaching the chicken.  You could also use some vegetable oil or butter to brown the chicken instead. I'm trying to keep the fat content down in our meals, so I went with chicken broth.  Once the chicken's cooked through, I add the vegetables.  Just simmer the two together as the broth evaporates.  Once it's mostly gone, I add the cooking cream.  It's much softer than regular cream cheese, so it melts and you just toss to coat everything.  You have a whole meal in one pan - my favorite kind!

In the summer, I plan on trying this with some fresh zucchini from the garden!

The 3 chicken breasts are enough to serve our 5, plus some for leftover :)

Finally, if you click THIS LINK HERE and answer a couple of questions about this "conversation" that you've just read here about Philly Cooking Cream,  you will be entered into a drawing for $1,000. :)  When it asks for the name of the person who you "talked to", just use my first name, Dawn.  Thanks!

Baked Eggplant

I have made eggplant parm before.  The problem has always been, though, that frying eggplant improperly, as I’ve invariably done, left me with little circular pieces of heart attack on a plate. 

So this time, I decided to at least try and bake it – just to see if I could. I’d paid a very good price for some small eggplants, so if it failed, it wasn’t a huge loss.  Here’s what I did…

2 eggplants, each one could fit in the palm of my hand – about 1 lb.
2 eggs, scrambled
1/4 c. flour
garlic powder
salt & pepper
panko bread crumbs
lemon juice
water

The day before, I peeled the eggplants.  Then I sliced them into 1/2 inch slices.  To prevent them from browning, I dipped each slice in a bowl of cold water that I’d mixed approximately 2-3 Tbs. of lemon juice in.

I then lay them in a colander to dry for most of the day.  Before bed, I put the now dry slices in a zipper bag in the fridge.

The next day, I took them out and they were still a nice white color, and they were DRY.

I put about 1/4 cup of flour into a bowl.  In a 2nd bowl, I scrambled 2 eggs.  In a 3rd bowl, I put about 2 cups of panko breadcrumbs that I’d seasoned with garlic powder, salt & pepper.

First, dredge the eggplant slices in flour.  This helps the egg stick to them, and also helps to keep them from absorbing too much egg and getting soggy.

Next, drag the floured slices through the egg, then into the bread crumbs.

Place each slice onto a baking sheet that’s been sprayed with some sort of cooking spray.

I baked mine in a 375° oven for about 30 minutes or so – testing them with a fork every few minutes.   When the fork went in without resistence, I knew they were done.

They came out so well just like that, I ate a couple of slices just plain! Each of my kids did too!

Of course, I reallllllly wanted sauce and cheese on them, so I did that next – spreading just a spoon full of sauce on each round, a slice of mozzarella cheese  on each, and then popped them back into the oven just long enough to melt the cheese. 

In the past, I’ve always felt guilty about ordering an eggplant parmesan sandwich in a restaurant because of all the fat that’s been absorbed into the eggplant by the frying method.  But I’ll tell you what!  THIS eggplant that I made with my own two hands?  COMPLETELY guilt free – and absolutely better than any restaurant dish I’ve ever ordered. Hands down!