Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Tonight I made some delicious oven roasted tomatoes.  My Mom gave me so many tomatoes from her garden.  I love the flavour of the roasted tomatoes, the herb de Provence and the chili powder.  The tomatoes are picked today, they are sweet and juicy.  I ate the tomatoes as a side dish to my baked BBQ tofu.  (thank you Elizabeth for your incredible home made BBQ sauce made with coffee and Jack Daniels).

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

-5-6 tomatoes cut in half and seeded
-herb de Provence
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-salt
-pepper
-chili powder

-The secret to this recipe is to remove the seeds and excess fluid.  I used beef steak tomatoes so they have more fluid then Roma tomatoes, however, the flavour was worth the extra fluid.  Preheat oven to 400.  You need parchment paper for this recipe.  Cut tomatoes in half and squeeze seeds and fluid out.  Place on a cookie sheet lined with the parchment paper, lightly salt, pepper, sprinkle with herb de Provence, and the chili powder, I used a whisk to then coat tomatoes with olive oil.  Bake until slightly blackened.  Depending on size of tomatoes between 20-40 minutes.

Taco Night inspired Quinoa Salad

Taco Night inspired Quinoa Salad

-2 cups of water

-1 cup quinoa

-2 tomatoes diced

-1/3 cup olive oil

-juice and zest of 1 lime

-1/2 cup taco sauce or salsa

-1 roasted red peppers

-a pinch of red chili flakes

-1/2 teaspoon cumin

-onion diced

-yellow pepper diced

-salt and pepper

-cilantro

-roast red peppers in oven at 450 drizzled in a little olive oil for about 15 minutes.  Cook the quinoa, bring water with quinoa to a boil, then cover and cook on low for 15 minutes and let sit for 5 minutes. Chop the tomatoes and mix the tomatoes, onion and yellow pepper with lime juice, lime zest, salt and pepper and let sit.  Chop the red pepper.  In a large bowl mix the quinoa, red peppers, the tomato salsa, the olive oil, chili powder, cumin, red chili flakes and taco sauce.  Taste and add more salt, pepper or taco sauce.  You can also add a few drops of either Tabasco or Franks red hot.  Top with cilantro.

Vegetable Soup

Friday in Toronto was cold, windy and snowy.  There was a terrible storm and I had a sick relative on my hands for the night.  This simple quick soup was hearty, delicious and was perfect for the cold inter day that it was.  I had basically everything in the house.

Vegetable soup

-2 tablespoons oil (olive, vegeatable, butter)
-2 cups of peeled and cubed sweet potato
-1 cup white onion
-3 ribs of celery chopped
-2 carrots
-1 796ml (28oz) can of tomatoes whole with juice
-1 teaspoon herb de Provence
-900ml of vegetable broth
-1/2 teaspoon chili powder
-1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

-in a large pot on medium heat add the oil, sweet potato, onion, celery and carrots.  Cook until onions are transparent (about 10 minutes depending in your stove).  Add the tomatoes, broth, chili powder, herb de Provence and pepper.  Reduce to simmer on medium-low heat covered for about an hour or longer.  (It was a cold day so I let it cook on low for a while filling the house with the aromas and warming up the apartment).  This recipe is simple. delicious, you can purée if you wish.

Tabbouleh Salad

I was given fresh herbs by a friend this week, so a bundle of fresh mint brought me thinking to tabbouleh.  This is my version that was refreshing.

Tabbouleh Salad

-1 cup of quinoa
-the juice and zest of two lemons
-1 cup parsley finely chopped
-1 cup mint finely chopped
-1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
-1 red onion
-3 tomatoes
-salt and lots of pepper

-in a large pot bring 2 cups of water to a boil, then add quinoa and reduce to simmer for 20 minutes.  Chop the tomatoes, the parsley, mint and the onion.  Place a bowl.  Add the cooked quinoa and mix.  Zest the 2 lemons and add the juice.  Then add the tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and oil.  Mix well and add salt and pepper.  I love the pepper in this salad.

Fresh Tomato Basa in a Red Wine Balsamic Sauce

Tomato Basa in a red wine balsamic sauce

-6-8 small tomatoes

-2 basa fillets

-1/4 cup red wine

-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-salt and pepper

in a casserole dish place fish.  Cut tomatoes and salt and pepper them, place on top of fish.  Cover with wine, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Bake at 400 for 10 minutes.

Amazing Guacamole

I had a pot luck to go to at work to celebrate my colleagues accomplishment of finding a new job.  So Guacamole was made...it was fantastic


T's Guacamole


2 avocados mashed
salt and pepper
juice on 2 limes or 5 key limes
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 Roma tomatoes diced
1 red onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 cup grated havarti cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro


mash avocado and add the juice of the limes and (1/2 teaspoon) salt and (1 teaspoon) pepper.  Stir in the chili powder and the tomatoes.  Add the onion, garlic, havarti cheese and cilantro.  I also added a touch of green salsa, if I were making at home I might have added more heat, through the useof chili peppers.


Prep time 10 minutes.  Was amazing...the havarti cheese and the freshness of the limes makes this do delicious.