Pasta with Slow Baked Tomatoes, Olives and Goat Cheese

Sometimes simple things are the best. One of my favorite “go to” meals is an easy one; pasta with raw chopped tomatoes, sliced Kalamata olives and goat cheese topped with a little high quality grated parmesan. For the pasta, I usually choose farfalle. I love the chewy texture with the fresh ingredients.

Sometimes, though I take this meal to the next level. I slow roast the tomatoes. I originally saw a recipe for “Very  Baked  Tomatoes” in The Café Beaujolais cookbook by Margaret Fox and John Bear (who eats there a lot!) I ate at Cafe Beaujolais http://www.cafebeaujolais.com/ years ago when I was in Mendocino for a pottery class. 

I must admit, there's was the recipe I used for years. The only difference now is that I guess at the amounts, the cooking temperature and the time.

The original recipe calls for plum tomatoes. They really are the best because they are more meaty than juicy, but I don’t have them on hand often. More recently I buy grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes or Campari tomatoes.  I make this recipe when I need to use them up or they will go bad.

Tonight was the first time I tried the Campari tomatoes. They may not be the best because they are more watery and seedy than Roma’s but it works just fine with me.

So how do you make them? Well I use my toaster oven. I preheat it to 250. I have looked at a lot of recipes; some bake them at 200 degrees, some 350.  The Café Beaujolais version says 325. I baked mine at 250. Sounded slow to me!

While the oven is preheating, I  slice the tomatoes in half and place them on a baking tray cut side up. I drizzle  a little olive oil over each half,  chop up some garlic and distribute the pieces over each half  and sprinkle with fresh chopped herbs from my garden. I almost always include rosemary and sometimes thyme. Dried herbs may work too but I prefer fresh.  I might also sprinkle a bit of sea salt or pink salt over the tomatoes. Sometimes I don’t so you don’t have to.

That’s about it for the preparation. All you have to do then is bake the tomatoes until they break down, collapse and caramelize.  I think the original recipe says bake at 325 for 2 hours but that is for the Romas, which are larger than the Campari tomatoes. I think I baked them for  about an hour.  The toughest part is waiting, watching and smelling the garlic and herbs as the tomatoes cook. (oh, and I am sorry  I have no pictures. I ate them too quickly)

Once the tomatoes are done you have choices. One night I just ate them as a side dish with a piece of halibut. Tonight, I made my favorite meal. I cooked up some pasta, drained it and put a serving amount (1 cup) in a bowl. While still hot, I threw in small pieces of goat cheese (maybe ½ oz or less for one serving) chopped black Kalamata olives (tonight just black olives because that is what I had) and the yummy tomatoes.

This  would be perfect but tonight I threw it all back in the pan after adding a small bit of sherry and some of the juices from the tomatoes. I heated it until all the cheese melted and the tomatoes broke up further making it a nice cheesy, tomato sauce. A sprinkle of Parmesan finished the dish.

Dinner served. Patron happy and well fed.

Some other ideas I haven’t tried but may;

The tomatoes chopped in an omelet or with scrambled eggs, a little fresh spinach and some feta.

Brushetta with slow baked tomatoes, perhaps?

Panini with slow baked tomatoes, mozzarella and basil.

 You can be creative once you realize how tasty and versatile they are. I hope you will try these. They are a great use for the times when you know you can’t eat another salad and the tomatoes are at risk of going bad.

It would make me happy to know you have tried these and commented on how you liked them. I do hope you enjoy them!

2014 Get it going

Well here we are at the end of 2013. It was a topsy turvy year for many including me. Tomorrow is a new year, a new day and the chance to better your best. I have proclaimed it the take care of Sheila year for me.
 
Let me first say that although I have had my challenges in 2013, this year has been  full of blessings for me too. Still and all 2014.....bring it on!!


I started my 2014 transformation a few days early upon my return from Florida. I cleaned and organized my closets, went grocery shopping for "healthy" food and started putting together thoughts as to my resolutions and goals for 2014.  I made some vegetarian black bean chili with wheat berries, spent some time with friends, had a manicure, pedicure and massage, renewed my workout goals and today had a great healthy lunch.

I had lunch with a friend in Arlington yesterday at a Lebanese Restaurant he frequents called Shatila.  The restaurant atmosphere could use some improvement but the food is darn tasty.

This was my second visit. Both times we had the sampler with Hummus, Baba Ganoush and Tabbouleh. All were delicious and filling.

Since I had parsley in my fridge left over from my cancelled Christmas party (iced out), I decided today to try my hand at a similar lunch.

I had tasted the Baba Ganoush awhile back at WholeFoods and really liked it. The company is "The Mediterranean Chef". In fact, I met the owners at the tasting.

So for lunch today I picked up the Baba Ganoush at Wholefoods then made my own tabbouleh. I cheated a bit by looking at the ingredient  label of tabbouleh Wholefoods sells (same company). I tried before to replicate the Baba Ganoush and failed miserably but felt confident I could succeed with tabbouleh.

So here is what I did:

I took two handfuls of parsley, washed and dried it. I removed some of the larger stems and chopped the rest roughly. To that I added a pinch of dried mint (fresh would be better. I am sure!) a few sprinklings of dried dill weed, minced white onion, minced tomato, minced cucumber (both tomato and cuke seeded)  and a pinch or more of salt.  I then mixed in a little olive oil and lemon juice.  That was it.

Now traditional tabbouleh has wheat.  I liked Shatila's version without it. In their version healthy parsley is the star.  This is very healthy and without the wheat....maybe some of you gluten free folks can enjoy it sans pita bread!

I am not a non gluten person so I ate my meal with whole wheat pita from The Baklava Bakery in Arlington. A little bit of Greek feta and some olives rounded out my meal. Dessert was a few slices of Cara Cara orange.

I wish each of you a happy, healthy New Year filled with clean eating and exercise.  2014....we are ready for you!

Making friends and guinea pigs

I have been looking forward to having friends over for dinner since my return to Plano. This weekend, I invited Lori, Toni, Mike and Keith to come over.  At first I planned a Thai Curry, something much more in line with my “normal” meal choices.

One problem with me is in making commitments on my decisions. So, over time the idea went from a Thai Curry to a Greek Shrimp Scampi and on from there. The problem for me is that I try to pre-think what people will eat. Since I don’t eat meat, it is a little more difficult when carnivores are coming over. Well actually, since I am not a true vegetarian, it can also be a challenge when ethical vegetarians come over.

I really wanted to make Salmon or Scallops. That is something I do a lot. But I am on a budget since I haven’t had much work and lots of expense. Seafood is expensive, so I nixed that idea.

In any case, I finally wore myself out planning so decided to make Penne with Vodka sauce, a salad and who knows what else. I had made the Vodka Sauce before using fresh marinara I bought at Central Market and it was good. It was also easy to make.

I also wanted the meal to be in line with healthier eating. Vodka sauce has cream in it, a challenge.  I found a recipe on Jamie Oliver’s site for a light Caesar dressing using 0% Greek yogurt. I thought that might be interesting too and healthier. I have made his recipes with much success.

I recently came across this nifty site where you can put a recipe in and get a very cool breakdown of what you are taking into your body. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2356/2

 I put in the Vodka Sauce recipe and the outcome took all the color out of my face (which, with my white skin, isn’t really much of a feat).  The calorie count was out the roof. The fat count wasn’t far behind.

So now I had a dilemma. How to improve on it? So I tried. Less Vodka, ½ heavy cream and ½ fat free half and half, about 1/8 of the parmesan in the original recipe and measured portions of pasta.  I tried to find a good multigrain penne but didn’t find one that was right so settled on semolina.

I made the Light Caesar dressing http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/caesar-on-the-light-sideand it needed some fixing up. Instead of minced fresh garlic, I roasted mine. Fresh is so strong and cutting, I didn’t want to use it.  I added a little Dijon mustard and at the last minute threw in some chopped basil.

I added some steamed fresh broccoli to the menu too.  For dessert, I made a Red Wine Sauce to go over peaches and Ice Cream. I chose the ½ fat Dreyer’s Vanilla.

So you might wonder how it turned out. Well I had a fantastic time with my friends. It was so nice to have them and they seemed to have a good time. It lifted my spirits, which I needed.

My opinion on the food; I decided that my best meals are not planned dinner parties. Somehow I am never as happy with the outcome. I am really a “harried cook” when it comes to planned events.

 My girlfriend and fellow foodie Moira in Florida once said, she makes her best meals just cooking at home. I think the same is true for me. I do better when I invite someone for a dinner I had cooked for myself.

The outcome: The sauce was watery. I think the non-fat half and half isn’t the greatest product. I have read that before but took the chance.  The portions were not filling enough, though only one person mentioned that. I was hungry later.

I don’t know how anyone felt about the Caesar but I don’t think it would pass muster with “Real Caesar” lovers.  The yogurt was just a little too tangy.  If I did it over, I would use some non-fat mayonnaise with it to tone it down some, or add honey to cut the edge.   I think I would have preferred a basil dressing for flavor.

I slightly undercooked the broccoli.  For me it would be fine, but not for company. The Dreyer’s light was good. The peaches were flavorless so I added some partly defrosted frozen peaches. I don’t think that was a good idea. I am used to eating half frozen fruit in my cereal, but I don’t think it went over too well.  My friends much preferred Crème de Menthe topping to my home cooked Red Wine sauce.  Go figure. I could have just bought that.

Even though this meal was not on the 4 star list, it was not “bad” I don’t think.  I figure, at least I tried to make it tasty and healthier. Sometimes it works the first time. Other times it takes some trial and error.  

Maybe some recipes will never be as good without the fat. I remember hearing a popular nutrition guru say, if you are trying to lose weight, just because you ate one unhealthy meal doesn’t mean you give up. It would be like getting a flat tire and then slitting the other 3. You move forward from where you are.

So, I will either try these recipes again or find some better healthy choices. I find it a worthy and healthy pursuit.