Creamy basil & tomato salsa

Hi guys,

Remember me?  I used to record all of my most favorite recipes here, both as a way of saving them, and of sharing my love of FOOD!

Well, I still love food, but my blogging habit was effectively squashed for quite some time.  I am (still) a full time college student, have one kid going into his senior year of high school, and 2 more at home that I homeschool.  When I began this blog 9(!!!) years ago, I didn't even have one of those kids yet!  It is amazing to me how much time (and food) has passed through these pages, and I am hoping to try and post here more often.

In the intervening years since I've posted last, we moved to East Tennessee.  The NSSO (not so significant other) decided not to dig in a garden this year, so I have had to supplement my love of fresh tomatoes and basil with offerings from the markets.  Fortunately, most markets carry local produce in the summer, so those farm-fresh tomatoes are still available to me.  I have been nurturing a single basil plant on my window sill for months now, and somehow, it has survived!  Today, however, was the first real time that I raided it for it's tender and fragrant offerings, and raid it I did!

I initially found the idea for this salsa from here.  However, I then added to it to make it my own, and it really was delicious served on top of some grilled turkey burgers!  Such a fresh taste. Perfect for this hot, summer day.

Creamy Basil & Tomato salsa

2 cups chopped tomato
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbs. red wine vinegar (infused with garlic)
salt, pepper to taste

You simply combine all the ingredients!  The mayonnaise can be increased, depending on your taste for it.  The same for the vinegar.  I tried it both ways and liked it with just a splash of vinegar.

I would love to hear how you liked this recipe!  Please leave me a comment to let me know :)

Thanks!

Dawn

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!