Baked Parmesan Tomatoes

Greetings! Sometimes you just need the simplest of simple recipes, wouldn't you agree? The majority of the time I really don't mind spending a little extra time in the kitchen to prepare a yummy, healthy dish. However, there are times when you're hungry, tired, cranky, or crunched for time (or all of the above!), and the last thing you want to do it make a dish with multiple steps or ingredients. The recipe I'm sharing with you today, baked parmesan tomatoes, is one of those easy and delicious recipes you can make in a flash and don't need to expend much mental or physical effort to make. :) This recipe wouldn't really serve well as a main dish, but if you wanted to use it as part of a meal, you could easily pair it with a simple salad, soup, or sandwich, or maybe pick up a rotisserie chicken at the store, and then you've got yourself a complete meal.

When I made this recipe a couple weeks ago, for me it was one of those, why haven't I ever thought of this before? It's something you'd think I could come up with on my own, but alas, I did not. I found the recipe at EatingWell.com. You can easily modify it too, depending on how many tomatoes you have, how many people you're cooking for, etc.

Ingredients:

-4 tomatoes, halved horizontally

-1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

-1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano

-1/4 tsp. salt (I omitted the salt)

-freshly ground pepper, to taste

-4 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place tomatoes cut side up on baking sheet. Combine the cheese, oregano, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, and sprinkle evenly over the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil, and bake until the tomatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Oh, and I didn't have fresh oregano so I just used some dried herbs de provence that I had. Use whatever herb(s) you like! Basil would be great with this, I bet.

I actually added some shredded mozzarella, on top of the parmesan, to two of the tomato halves I made. I had mozzarella on hand that I wanted to use up, so this was a great way to use it.  

That one on the bottom left was a little overdone, but that's okay. Still tasted great!

Seriously, such a delicious and easy side dish! You've gotta give it a try!

Tomorrow Whole Foods is announcing the two finalists of the Pecan Recipe contest. Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted on how my pecan cranberry cinnamon chip cookies fare. ;)