Tomato and Mozzarella salad and Crustless Quiche

The tomato salad is pretty simple, 1/2 c. chopped tomatoes, 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese, 3 tbsp. diced onion, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Add a tbsp chopped parsely and a pinch of crushed red pepper, if you desire.

The egg dish. I have been trying to remember where I got the idea from but it has alluded me. Anyways, it was supposed to have a crust, which I did not make because carbs hate me.

3-4 mushrooms chopped and sauteed in olive oil, set aside. Boil 1 sliced leek until tender, drain and set aside.

Beat 4 eggs, seasoned with salt and pepper with 1 tbsp creme fraiche. Add mushrooms, leeks, and 1/4 c gruyere. Bake in greased pan on 325 for 20-30 minutes, or until eggs set and top begins to brown.

Grilled Tomato Risotto with Roasted Portobellos

The last time I made risotto, 5 years ago it was awful. It took about a year to cook. Well, nott hat long but I royally messed it up. So this was my second attempt ever at making a risotto. I had some ingredients that I wanted to use up and it was a Friday, so it had to be meatless. I found this (click "this" for link):

This is about halfway through before adding the tomatoes.




After adding grilled tomatoes. Don't forget to taste it and add a little salt if needed!











And this is what the dish looks like, assembled with the portobello.

I just want to take a minute here and apologize to Emeril. I know you are probably really excited to see your recipe on my blog, Emeril. I just know you check it every day. And I want to say I am sorry for thinking this recipe would be bland and boring before I actually made it. It was so good, flavorful and I know you would think I did a great job seasoning it. I will make this recipe again and again.

Spinached Eggplant, ButterHerb Grilled Chicken and Stuffed Tomatoes

This is a variation of the awesomely eggplant recipe I posted here. Add some baby spinach in between those layers of eggplanty-goodness. That's the only variation, but it was too good not to share.








Next, I'd like to give a little shout out to my favorite farm. Tendercrop Farm. These are four of their own chicken breasts stuffed with my very own herb butter and some lemon slices. Make sure the butter is cold when you put it between the meat and the skin, it melts slowly and stays on your chicken longer. I grilled these on low for about 30-45 minutes. Be careful about flare-ups that may be caused by the butter. When the juices run clear, or it reaches the right temp, it's done.


Tomatoes Provencal a la greque?
Alright, so I was trying to use up these tomatoes and I came up with this. Then I saw it in a recipe book, though slightly different and I felt really stupid.

Core the tomatoes, scooping out the seeds. Mix about 4 tbsp of feta, with a tablespoon of parsley, a small clove of garlic chopped finely, and just enough breadcrumbs to make a stuffing that loosely holds together, probably not more than a handful. Stuff the tomatoes and bake on 350 until they begin to soften. Another variation would be to use Parmesan instead of bread crumbs or feta.

Bruschetta

I have to thank my friend T. for teaching me how to make this. It has been a favorite for awhile.

It is really flexible, you can make any amount and change the amounts of the ingredients to taste.

Here I used 2 Roma tomatoes; diced, 3 green onions; sliced, about 2 oz of feta; crumbled, 7 slices of French bread and pepper to taste. Normally, I would have used about 4-5 leaves of fresh basil, chopped; but it was after Christmas and the store was completely out.

It is pretty simple, just grill the sliced bread in a pan with olive oil (about 2 tbsp), over medium heat and top with mixture. Sometimes I use grape tomatoes because they are sweet. I believe my friend T. recommended that to me.

Quick Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella Appetizer

Ingredients:
tomatoes
fresh mozzarella
fresh ground pepper
fine ground sea salt
extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Slice tomatoes and mozzarella, arranging in a fan or a line.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Drizzle with olive oil.

Optional: Add fresh basil leaves and or sliced onion

Quick Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella Appetizer

Ingredients:
tomatoes
fresh mozzarella
fresh ground pepper
fine ground sea salt
extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Slice tomatoes and mozzarella, arranging in a fan or a line.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Drizzle with olive oil.

Optional: Add fresh basil leaves and or sliced onion