Cheesy Pesto Stuffed Tomatoes

Cheesy Pesto Stuffed Tomatoes
From: Real Housemoms

The perfect appetizer for your next get together, made by stuffing cherry tomatoes with an extra cheesy pesto filling.

Ingredients:
8 oz whipped cream cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons grated Pecorino Romano cheese
¼ cup prepared basil pesto sauce
1 pint (about 26) cherry tomatoes

Directions:
Cut a very thin slice off of the bottom of each tomato so that they will stand upright.
Cut off the tops of the tomatoes.
Run your knife around the inside edge of the tomato, then scoop out the pulp; discard.
In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, Pecorino Romano cheese, and pesto sauce.
Cut the corner off of a heavy duty plastic baggie and insert an icing tip. Fill the bag with the cream cheese mixture.
Pipe the cream cheese mixture into each tomato.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Swiss Chard Turnovers

Swiss Chard Turnovers
From: Big Girls Small Kitchen


Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, minced then made into a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil
Freshly ground pepper
10 large Swiss chard leaves, cut into 4 pieces each
1/4 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped
One 17-ounce packae of puff pastry–in the Pepperidge Farm package, this gives you two sheets–defrosted in the fridge

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the minced garlic, lemon juice, mustard, Parm, olive oil, and pepper. Stir well. Add the chard leaves and toss with the dressing to coat each piece generously.
Take out one sheet of puff pastry and unfold it. If it’s uneven, use a rolling pin to shape into into an even rectangle, but don’t roll it too thin. Use a paring knife to cut the sheet into 6 rectangles.
Take one rectangle, and rotate it 45 degrees so it looks like a diamond. Pull out the two sides of the diamond, and layer on 3 pieces of chard, overlapping them, from the top point down to the bottom. Sprinkle on a couple of the chopped pistachios.
Now, fold the side points of the diamond–the ones you stretched out a little–over the filling until they overlap about an inch. Press them down. It’s okay if it looks a little messy–as it cooks and puffs up, it’ll look fine.
Using a spatula, transfer the turnover to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough until you have 12 turnovers.
Bake them for 15 minutes, until puffed and golden. Cool for 3-4 minutes on the baking sheet, then serve. These also taste great room temperature and are easily reheated in the microwave.
 

Baked Eggs in Tomato

Baked Eggs in Tomato
From: Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

4 large tomatoes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons snipped fresh chives
1/4 cup grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese (1/4 ounce)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch baking dish or pie plate with parchment. With a serrated knife, cut off the top 1/2 inch from each tomato. With a spoon or a melon baller, gently remove seeds and inner membrane, being careful not to break through flesh of tomato. Place tomatoes in dish and season with salt and pepper.

Divide corn among tomatoes. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and chives and season with salt and pepper. Divide egg mixture among tomatoes and top with cheese. Bake until egg mixture is set, 45 to 50 minutes. Serve warm.

Stuffed Sicilian Eggplant

Ingredients:
Sicilian Eggplant
1 pint cremini mushrooms, chopped
1 roasted red pepper, chopped
1 onion, minced
2 cup spinach
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
olive oil

Directions:
Lightly cover the eggplant with olive oil and roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 min or unitl tender. Remove from the oven. Scoop out the center of the eggplant into a bowl.
Heat more olive oil in a pan, add the onion and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Add in the garlic and red pepper and cook for about 1 minute. Add in the spinach and cook until it wilts.
Add the sauteed vegetables to the eggplant in the bowl. Add in the breadcrumbs and cheese and mix.
Spoon the mixture into the scooped out eggplant. Bake in the oven for an additional 10 minutes.

Spicy Chard Soup

Ingredients:
bunch Swiss chard
1 teaspoon cumin
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon hot sauce
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 cup cremini mushrooms, chopped
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup water
1 lemon, halved

salt

Directions:
Cut the chard stems into 1/2-inch pieces and the leaves into 1-inch pieces; keep separate.
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the chard stems and onion and cook until softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the tomato paste, hot sauce, garlic, mushrooms, and cumin. Cook 3 minutes. Add the chard leaves, tomatoes, chicken broth and 1 cup water, bring to a simmer and cook until the chard is tender, about 10 minutes. Add in shredded chicken. Squeeze in the juice from 1/2 lemon and season with salt.

Grilled Stuffed Poblanos(Anchos)

 

Ingredients :

4 poblanos, roasted, seeded, skins removed
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, diced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1 small tomato, diced
1 cup cooked rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves
1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese

Directions :

On a preheated grill roast your poblanos for about 10 minutes or until the skins begin to blister and char. Place into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for about 5 minutes. In a medium skillet add the butter and saute the onion and red bell pepper until soft for about 5 minutes. Once cooked place into a medium bowl with diced tomato, cooked rice, salt, pepper and cilantro. Mix well. Carefully remove skins from poblanos. With a paring knife or your fingernail (the poblano with be tender), make a slit in the poblano from bottom to top. Pull and discard the seeds and inner membranes, being careful not to tear the rest of the poblano. With a spoon stuff poblanos with rice mixture. Top with cheese. Cover a section of the grill with foil and place the poblanos back on the grill for about 5 to 10 minutes until cheese melts.

Paula Red Apples

Paula Red apples are bright red with some yellow and tan spots. The flavor is not too sweet and not too tart. It has a firm white flesh that becomes soft and mealy extremely quickly as its season declines. Paula Red apples are suitable for both eating fresh and cooking, although they become extremely soft when cooked, which suits them to some dishes (applesauce) and not others (pies).

Scoeville Scale for Peppers

Pico de Gallo

Pico de Gallo

Ingredients: 

1 medium tomato, cut into 1/4-inch dice (1 cup)
1/4 medium white onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice (1/2 cup)
2 small hot peppers(jalapeno), seeds removed if desired, and cut into 1/4-inch dice (The chile ribs and seeds are the determining factor as to how hot this sauce will be. Leave them in for maximum heat, or remove them if you prefer less kick)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

lime juice if desired

Directions:

Combine ingredients in a bowl. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to 1 hour.

Pepper Jelly

Pepper Jelly
from: Averie Cooks

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups red pepper, de-seeded and finely diced (1 very large red pepper, the biggest I could find)
1 1/2 cups green pepper, de-seeded and finely diced (1 large green pepper, the biggest I could find)
3/4 cup jalapeno chilies, de-seeded and finely diced (7 jalepeno peppers that were about thumb-sized, each)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
31/2 ozs pectin
5 cups white sugar 

Directions:
Prepare the glass jars by sterilizing them.  Do this by washing jars and bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in a saucepan off the heat. Let jars stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.
Fill a very large stockpot with water and allow it to nearly boil on the stovetop.
Finely chop the peppers by hand (or pulse using a food processor) and add them to a medium-sized 6 to 8-quart stock pot. To the peppers, add the vinegar and pectin (two packets). Place stockpot on the stovetop and bring to a full rolling boil and stir constantly. After a full rolling boil is reached, add the sugar. It will foam and bubble up, and if foam is intense, skim it off with a spoon. Return to a full rolling boil and once full rolling boil is reached boil for exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat.
Quickly ladle jelly into the sterile jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the tops. Cover with flat lids, and screw on bands tightly. Place the jars loosely into the nearly boiling water (if you have a canning rack, use it and slowly lower jars into pot). The water should cover the jars completely, and should be hot but not boiling when place the jars in. Bring water to a boil, and after it’s boiling, process for 10 to 12 minutes.
After processing, remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely, and do not disturb them. Choose their resting place wisely, because where ever they are placed, they need to remain undisturbed and untouched until they seal. You may begin to hear loud pops immediately, or within 24 hours and that means the jar has sealed. If you are uncertain if they’ve sealed, after the jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. If the lid is sunken and does not spring back, it’s sealed. If lid springs back, jar is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.
Unsealed or opened pepper jelly will likely keep for weeks in the refrigerator; and sealed jars of jelly will keep for one year or longer, if stored in a cool, dry place.
 

Roasted Tomato Salsa

Roasted Tomato Salsa
From: All Recipes

Ingredients:
2 lbs tomatoes, cored
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 onion, peeled and quarted
1 jalapeno pepper(if you want a milder salsa, remove the seeds)
1 1/2 T olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
3 T lime juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
Preheat broiler. Put tomatoes, garlic, onion, and jalapeno in a baking pan and drizzle with oil. Broil, turning once. Cook about 8-10 minutes.
Remove from oven and discard jalapeno stem and garlic skins. Coarsely chop the vegetables in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and stir in cumin, salt, lime juice, and cilantro.
Enjoy!

Gazpacho

Gazpacho

Ingredients:

6 ripe tomatoes (about 3 lbs), peeled and chopped (yielding about 6 cups)

1 red onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 sweet bell pepper seeded and chopped (about 1 cup)

2 stalks celery, chopped (about 1 cup)

1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1 clove garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 teaspoons sugar

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Use a blender or food processor to blend to desired smoothness. Adjust seasonings to taste. Place in a container to store. Chill several hours or overnight to allow the flavors to blend.

Crisp Cucumber and Apple Salad

Cucumber and Apple Salad
From: she.steals.com

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp white sugar
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp minced dill
1 Tbsp minced parsley
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp minced garlic
1 medium fresno pepper
1/2 cucumber (peeled and cut in small strips)
2 granny smith apples (cut in small strips)

Directions:

Mix everything but cucumber and apples strips in medium bowl. Add apple and cucumber strips, toss. Chill in fridge for at least 20 minutes and enjoy!

Heirloom Tomatoes

Heirloom tomatoes are a non-hybrid variety of tomato. They come in a wide variety of colors and sizes. They are also known as ugly tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes have a shorter shelf life, are more fragile, and are less disease resistant than most tomatoes making them harder to grow and more expensive to purchase. Stony Hill grows four different varieties of heirloom tomato: Brandywine Pink, Amana Orange, Cherokee Purple, and German Green Striped.

Brandywine Pink Heirloom Tomato 

The brandywine pink variety are firm with a creamy texture.









Amana Orange Heirloom Tomato

The amana orange heirloom tomato is sweeter than the average tomato and has a slightly tropical flavor.

Cherokee Purple Heirloom Tomato

 The Cherokee purple heirloom tomato is very dense and juicy and has a very sweet, complex flavor.

German Green Striped Heirloom Tomato

The German green striped heirloom tomato has a sweet tart flavor with a hint of rich spiciness.

Squash Tacos

Ingredients:
2 yellow squash(any variety will do)
Red onion
Tomato
Mushrooms
Flour tortillas

Directions:
Slice squash lengthwise into strips. Saute or grill until tender.
Warm tortillas on grill or quickly warm in the microwave.
I spread my tortillas with the garlic scape pesto I made. Garlic Scape and Basil Pesto
Place desired amount of yellow squash, sliced onion and mushrooms, and diced tomato onto the tortilla.
Fold and enjoy!