These are so easy to make and freeze to enjoy throughout the year. Great on salads, sandwiched, pasta. pizza. The flavour is concentrated. INGREDIENTS
6 to 8 tomatoes, slices about 1/2 inch thick
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, fresh oregano, fresh basil, whatever you have
1 tablespoon olive oil DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 250 F or 120 C
2. Place sliced tomatoes on a baking sheet on a piece of parchment or silpat sheet.
Sliced fresh tomatoes with salt, pepper, herbs, olive oil
3 Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt pepper and fresh herbs.
4. Bake for one to two hours checking every half hour until pieces have shrunk slightly, edges are shriveled and juices no longer run. They are not completely dried but are still juicy.
Sun (oven) Dried Tomatoes
5. Cool slightly and put into glass jars covered by olive oil. Leave about 1/2 inch of head room and freeze if you will not use them up in the next week or two. Yummy!
Oven-dried tomatoes in glass jar with olive oil and thyme
DID YOU KNOW: Our little sweet potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese. Sweet potatoes are also a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin B6, potassium, and iron. They are high in antioxidants and come in many colours.
One small sweet potatoes has three grams of dietary fiber, four grams of sugar , 8,500 micro-grams of beta-carotene, 14000 international unit of vitamin A and eighty-six calories.
HEALTHY BENEFITS
It helps to keep your liver healthy and helps to to avoid diabetes. Sweet potatoes help to stabilize blood sugar levels and help to lower insulin resistance.
We should just eat more of them and more often. I have provided you with two recipes for Sweet potatoes salad that you can enjoy in the summer with your grilled meats. You can enjoy this sweetness all year round with your meals. . . . RECIPES The first sweet potatoesrecipe (click here) is on the savory side and quite mild. The second recipe (click here) has some HEAT. You can add as much heat as you wish.
Enjoy these recipes, either mild or hot. Above all eat healthy sweet potatoes! . . .
This is a wonderful and healthy side dish to accompany those grilled ribs, chicken, pork and even salmon. This is an alternative to those usual potato and pasta salads. It’s a great take along for those summer barbecues! It’s a crowd pleaser! . . .
INGREDIENTS
2 large or up to 4 small (2 1/2 pounds) sweet potatoes
4 teaspoons white wine or champagne vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon style mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
1/4 cup capers or chopped pickles(optional)
DIRECTIONS
1) Preheat oven to 400F.
2) Cut the sweet potatoes into bite-sized pieces and toss in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Place on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast about 30 minutes turning occasionally. Alternatively the potatoes can be steamed for 10 minutes and let them air dry to remove access liquid. It is easy for them to soften too much so do not overcook.
3) While the potatoes are roasting, make the dressing. Place in a blender or whisk in a bowl, the mustard, vinegar and salt. Slowly add the remaining tablespoons of olive oil in a slow stream.
4) If you have been oven roasting the potatoes remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and let rest and cool slightly about 10 minutes.
5) Toss the still warm potatoes with the dressing.
They absorb the dressing better when slightly warm.
6) Add scallions and toss gently.
Your finished salad
VARIATIONS: You can also add to this 1/2 bottle of capers, 2 sliced celery sticks or fennel, a couple of boiled eggs chopped, etc…. Look in your fridge. It’s fresh. Use it up!
Serves 4-6 persons
This is actually better the next day.
INGREDIENTS 1 large to 2 small (about 2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes)
1 medium size red pepper
1/4 cup sherry or red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 medium apple (any sweet organic is good)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves chopped or 1/4 cup dried mint
1 or 2 minced jalapeno peppers
1/4 cup dried currants or raisins(optional)
DIRECTIONS
1) Preheat oven to 400F and roast as per previous recipe or alternatively steam the potatoes.
2) While the potatoes are cooking, put in blender the remaining 6 tablespoons of olive oil with the vinegar, red bell pepper, cumin and the orange zest if you are using. Sprinkle with the salt.
3) Add the apple, scallion, mint, jalapeno and raisins
to the warm potatoes and gently toss.
4) Add most of the dressing and toss. Add more dressing if you need it. Taste for seasoning.
5) Serve at room temperature or refrigerate for the next day.
Plum, Cranberry and Almond Clafoutis (pronounced “kla-FOO-tee”) Recipe
. . .
INGREDIENTS 3 plums 1 cup cranberries (can be frozen, no need to defrost) 1/4 cup (50g) ground almonds 2 tbsp (30gm) rice flour 1/2 cup (100g) sugar substitute 2 free range eggs 1 tsp natural vanilla extract 1/2 tsp almond extract 1 cup (250g) milk (2% or whole) 1 tbsp(30g) melted unsalted butter 2 tbsp(30g) sliced almonds
DIRECTIONS 1) Preheat oven to 375 F ( 190C) 2) Line a spring form pan with parchment
3) Using a pastry or silicon brush the bottom and sides of pan with melted unsalted butter 4) Sprinkle a few tablespoons of the sweetened on the pan and rotate the pan to distribute evenly. Turn the pan upside down to let any access fall out. Keep any access sweetener to add to the batter. 5) Place pitted, sliced in half plums evenly on the spring form pan. Sprinkle the cranberries all around. It is alright to bake these from frozen. There is not need to defrost them. 6) Place in a blender the ground almonds, rice flour, sugar substitute, eggs, milk, vanilla extract, almond extract and a pinch of salt. Blend the batter and pour it on the fruit. Scatter the top with sliced almonds and bake for 35-45 minutes until risen and golden brown. 7) Let cool and dip a knife into hot water and run it along the side on the spring form pan. Remove the ring. Slice using a knife dipped in hot water. Plate and serve warm ( topped with whipped cream – optional ).
Into The Oven
Out Of The Oven
To The Table -M-M-M-M-
DID YOU KNOW? Eating 6 almonds a day lowers your LDL (bad) cholesterol. Eating almonds also helps curb your appetite and regulates your blood sugar. It looks like a peach pit because it is a member of the prunus family (fruit trees). The polyphenols and antioxidants are thought to help fight off heart disease and cancer. It is easy enough to make this dessert for two or just for yourself.
Just use half of the ingredients and bake in individual custard cups. I used frozen cherries for the individual servings. The flavour was a little flat as the cherries had very little acidity. I would add some grated lemon rind the next time I make this with cherries. Enjoy one of them and refrigerate the other one for tomorrow!
Simply Splendid Food 