Restaurant Style Salsa

I am officially never buying store-bought salsa again!  This was absolutely the easiest and most delicious salsa recipe I have ever tried!  It reminded me of the salsa that some of my favorite Mexican restaurants serve.  Definitely try this recipe today!  Serve it at a dinner party and listen to everyone remark how fantastic it is!



Source:  Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice

2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)
¼ cups Chopped Onion
1 clove Garlic, Minced
1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
¼ teaspoons Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
¼ teaspoons Ground Cumin
½ cups Cilantro (more To Taste!)
½ whole Lime Juice

Directions:
 
Note: this is a very large batch. Recommend using a 12-cup food processor, or you can process the ingredients in batches and then mix everything together in a large mixing bowl.

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like—I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.

Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos.

Summer Scalloped Tomatoes with Croutons

Do you love tomatoes like I do?  Yes?  Okay, then either go to your garden or nearest produce store to get some beautiful tomatoes and make this dish.  It was so simple and it brought out the wonderful sweetness of the tomatoes.  I also thought this was a great recipe to use to make some quick croutons for a salad. This will make a great side dish for a variety of dishes, so try this soon!

Source:  Smells like Home, adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients:

2-3 tbsp Good olive oil
3 cups (1/2-inch diced) bread from a French boule or baguette
2 lbs tomatoes, local if you can find them
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup julienned basil leaves, lightly packed
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat olive oil in a large (12 inch) saute pan over medium heat. Add the bread cubes and stir to coat with the oil. Cook over medium to medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the cubes are evenly browned.

Meanwhile, combine the tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. When the bread cubes are done, add the tomato mixture and continue to cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the basil.

Pour the tomato mixture into a shallow (6 to 8 cup) baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with the Parmesan cheese. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is browned and the tomatoes are bubbly. Serve hot or warm.

Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes

I have to apologize for the lack of updates this past week.  My time has been occupied with a new kitten named Heidi.  She's extremely playful and needs constant affection and hates it when my husband and I use our laptops. :)  While typing this blog entry, she has jumped on my computer about seven times so far.  Anyways, I've had some free time this weekend and decided to try a new appetizer that I had bookmarked for the last few weeks.  I had a hard time finding some decent tomatoes at the grocery store, but this recipe turned out well and took very little time in preparing.  I cooked the tomatoes in the oven and by the time they were out of the oven, the cheese had melted perfectly and the tomatoes were so juicy with the skin ready to peal off.  Yum!

Source:  The Novice Chef

Ingredients:

4 medium tomatoes
1/4 cup of your favorite breadcrumbs
2 tbl butter, melted
8 basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Parsley for garnish

Directions:

Slice off top of tomato, hollow out (leaving 1/2 inch thick shell), and chop pulp and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine bread crumbs, butter, basil, salt and pepper. Next stir in cheese and tomato pulp. Fill each tomato shell and then wrap each tomato individually in foil.

Grill, or bake (at 400 degrees) for 10 to 15 minutes, until cheese is completely melted. Garnish with parsley and serve hot!

Ravioli with Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce

I have a pretty busy weekend ahead, and I was looking for something simple as well as a bit healthy to make.  This sauce, paired with some good wine turned out very well.  It's a little bit sweeter than some sauces that I am used to, but I would definitely make this again.

Source:  Stephanie Cooks

Ingredients:

1 package refrigerated ravioli (I used cheese)
1 15 oz. can Fire Roasted tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp. tomato paste (optional, I omitted)

Directions:

In a small saucepan combine the garlic, and white wine. Heat over medium-high until the garlic is fragrant.

Add the can of tomatoes, stir.

Season with salt and pepper, add the tomato paste if you want a thicker sauce.

Allow the sauce to heat over medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes.

Serve over the hot ravioli (mine had to boil with some olive oil for 7-9 minutes)

Chicken and Rice Stuffed Tomatoes

This is a new recipe I learned about a month ago that I have made two times already. It's easy to make, uses simple ingredients, and a really filling and tasty meal. I made six tomatoes and they were more than enough for my husband and I for dinner as well as some leftovers. I highly recommend this recipe.

Source: Things That Make You Go Mmmmmm

Ingredients:

6 large, ripe tomatoes
1/4 c. finely chopped onion
3/4 lb. ground chicken or cut up chicken breast
1 c. cooked rice
1 tbsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking dish, large enough to accomodate the tomatoes, with non-stick spray.

Wash tomatoes. Cut off tops and scoop out insides into a bowl. Reserve.

In a non-stick skillet, brown chicken. Add onion. Make sure you break up the chicken into little pieces, it makes stuffing the tomatoes easier. Remove from heat.

Add rice and seasoning to the meat and onions. Take the reserved tomato guts and put into blender. Blend for a moment and pour back about 3/4 cup into the meat mixture. Mix well.

Stuff the tomatoes with the mixture; place tomatoes in baking dish. Top tomatoes with cheese then bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. (After 10 minutes of baking, I added extra mozzarella cheese to the tomatoes)