"Fried" Green Tomatoes

Let’s be honest – who doesn’t love fried food?? Okay -  in all seriousness, I don’t anymore. However, I used to eat A LOT of fried foods. It’s what I grew up eating. Heck – it’s what  most current America grew up eating. Not anymore at our house though. Don’t get me wrong, there are days when I crave some French fries, or fried okra, etc. Instead we have gluten-free, baked foods. Like these little beauties. These tomatoes still have that great “fried” crunch without all the guilt. Let’s just say – we love them.

2 large, very green tomatoes, sliced into about ¼” slices

1 egg, beaten
¼ cup almond milk
½ cup gluten free bread crumbs
¼ cup gluten free flour of choice (I used a mix of potato starch and rice flour)
½ tsp garlic salt
½ tsp parsley
¼ tsp paprika
¼ tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil

• In a small bowl, beat eggs and milk together. In another small bowl, combine bread crumbs, flour, salt, parsley, paprika and pepper.
• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Dip each tomato slice in egg mixture and then coat in flour mixture.
• Pan fry the tomato slices on each side for about 5-7 minutes or until both sides are browned and crispy.

Hubby's Hot Garden Salsa

How about a guest post from my better half? I must brag – my husband is awesome. Great father, great husband, great cook (when he wants to be). He’s hates waste and what better way to use up TONS of garden tomatoes than making salsa. We always make our own batches. He prefers his salsa to make him sweat, nose run, burn his tongue, etc. I like mine to be as spicy as tomato paste. I will say even though his is spicier than I like – it has much better flavor! The “secret” to this is the chili paste. Be warned: it is HOT. And the longer it sits, the hotter it gets. You may need to adjust the ingredients depending on how much you want to make. This particular batch makes about 10 half-pint jars.

10-15 large tomatoes, washed and quartered

3 large jalapenos
1 large onion
1 whole garlic clove
½ cup cilantro
½ cup tomato paste
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp salt
½ chili pepper paste (you can find this in the ethnic food section)

• Make sure all vegetables are washed thoroughly. Place quartered tomatoes, onion and garlic in a food processor. Cut the stems off of the jalapenos and throw in with tomatoes. Yes you read that correctly – leave the seeds and everything.
• Add in cilantro, tomato paste and chili paste. Your food processor should be completely full. If necessary add a few extra tomatoes to fill it up.
• Blend until you get your desired consistency. We like ours smooth so we blended for a while.
• Pour salsa into a large cooking pot and bring to boil.
• Add in vinegar and salt. Cook salsa at boiling for about 10 minutes.
• Pour into clean, prepared canning jars. Seal according to jar instructions.

Rhubarb-Cherry Crisp

This recipe was kind of a brilliant mistake. We were going to dinner at a friend’s house so I decided to make a dessert the night before. I made my traditional strawberry-rhubarb crisp but I had a LOT of extra crumb topping leftover so I decided to make another small batch. Only problem was I was out of strawberries and apples. I did have a BUNCH of cherries that needed eaten and a couple pineapple slices. That’s how this lovely concoction was made. It is just the perfect amount of sweet and tart flavors and really just screams summer with the fresh fruit taste.

Filling

2 stalks of rhubarb, diced (about ¾ cup)
2 cups of cherries, halved (pits removed – could also use 2 cans of cherries)
2 slices of fresh pineapple, chunked (about ½ cup)
1 Tbsp honey or other sweetener
1 tsp cinnamon
Topping
¼ cup coconut flour
¼ cup GF all purpose flour (or omit coconut flour and use ½ cup all purpose flour)
½ cup GF oats
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp coconut oil

• Mix together filling ingredients in a greased 9” pie plate.
• Mix together the topping ingredients into a small bowl until it crumbly.
• Sprinkle crumb mixture over fruit evening and bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes or until bubbly and brown on top.

Cold Veggie Ranch Pizza

This dish makes a perfect appetizer or even a light dinner/lunch. A girl that I work with makes this dish anytime we have a “food day” and I love it. She uses Pillsbury croissants for the crust and bottled ranch dressing but otherwise, my recipe is pretty much the same. Feel free to substitute the vegetables you like for the ones I’ve listed. My kids (and husband) love this plus it’s a good way to get the kiddos to eat their share of vegetables without too much fuss.

1 pizza crust dough (I made my own gluten free from a mix)

½ cup ranch dressing (You can use salad dressing, make your own or use those ranch “dip” mixes)
½ cup broccoli, finely chopped
½ cup carrots, finely chopped
¼ cup tomatoes, finely diced
½ cup romaine lettuce, finely chopped
¼ cup green onions, finely chopped
¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese (if desired or tolerated)

• Bake pizza crust according to package directions. If you are using croissants, just roll them out onto a baking sheet like a crust. You could also cut some time out and use a pre-made pizza crust. Let the pizza crust cool completely.
• Once cooled, spread the ranch dressing or dip over the pizza crust. Layer on the veggies as you wish. We don’t really care how pretty it is, we just threw everything together and put it on the crust.
• Sprinkle with cheese if you’d like and enjoy!

Smoky Chickpea Salad

Sometimes a quick, light salad will do just the trick for dinner on a warm summer night. I eat salad on a daily basis – for lunch, dinner, snack or all three. I do get a little bored with them though so I try to find new ways to freshen them up. I am fine with having a salad for dinner with a small piece of bread or something. However, my hungry son and husband can’t live off of lettuce. The chickpeas in the salad add a little protein and also add a little something extra to plain ol’ lettuce. The boys of course prefer Ranch dressing, but I like a simple vinegar/olive oil vinaigrette.

1 can chickpeas rinsed

1 tsp paprika
¼ tsp liquid smoke
½ tsp garlic salt
1 tsp honey
¼ cup roasted red pepper, chopped
¼ cup leeks, chopped
1 bunch of romaine lettuce, chopped
2 slices smoked provolone cheese, chopped

• In a large skillet, combine chickpeas, paprika, smoke, garlic salt and honey and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine lettuce, leeks, peppers and cheese in a large serving bowl.
• After the chickpeas have cooled for a bit, pour them over salad. Best if served immediately.

Zucchini-Potato Breakfast Patties

During the summer we have an abundance of zucchini. My mom, myself and our neighbors always seem to have too much of it. Don’t get me wrong, we love eating it. However, you can only eat sautéed or grilled squash every night for so long. We are at that point of the year where we are trying anything to have zucchini different. I haven’t had zucchini for breakfast but it turned out well! These are perfect little hash brown patties and go great with an egg or some fruit.

½ of a large zucchini, shredded, water removed

½ of a russet potato, shredded
¼ cup diced onion
1 egg
¼ cup all purpose gluten-free flour
¼ cup corn meal
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp salt
Olive oil

• Combine zucchini, potato and onion together. Add in egg, flour, cornmeal, pepper and salt. Mix together with your hands until well blended.
• In a large skillet or on a griddle, heat up a little olive oil. Once skillet/griddle is hot, place the zucchini mixture in the skillet in the form of small circle patties.
• Flatten the patties until they are about ¼” thick so they will crisp up nicely. Cook in the skillet on one side for about 10 minutes on low-medium heat.
• Flip patties and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until both sides are crispy. Serve immediately. These are best served warm right after cooking.

Meal Plan Week of 08/18/13-08/24/13

Good Evening -

What a glorious day we had in my area today. It was so nice, we slept with the windows open. Yes- it is the middle of August and we had all of the windows open. Amazing. It was a perfect day to visit the local farmer's market today. Apparently, we weren't the only ones who thought so as it was VERY busy. Regardless, we got lots of fresh, local produce. I'm looking forward to cooking it all up this week! Here's the meal plan for next week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

18	19	20	21	22	23	24
SUNDAY	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY
Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast
poached egg	toast	egg	maple	cereal	scrambled	lemon
sausage	w/ PB	toast	oatmeal	almond milk	egg	donut
toast	banana	berries	bananas	berries	toast	fruit
tea	tea	tea	tea	tea	tea	tea
Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
brie	veggie	lettuce	turkey	salad	turkey	veggie
veggies	wrap	wrap	sandwich	hummus	wrap	salad
sandwiches	avocado	crackers	veggies	crackers	veggies	fruit
water	water	water	water	water	water	water
Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner
spaghetti squash	Italian	chicken	grilled shrimp	baked	KIDS	chicken
w/ eggplant	pasta	asparagus	corn	potatoes	CHOICE	corn bread
tomato sauce	salad	salad	zucchini	radish salad	(burger)	squash
water	water	water	water	water	water	water
Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack
smoothie	fruit	smoothie	cheese	trailmix	nuts	cheese
veggies	nuts	trailmix	veggies	fruit	veggies	almonds
smore's	ice cream	cookies	pudding	cookies	smore's	Chex mix