Herbed Tomatoes Au Gratin

Herbed Tomatoes Au Gratin

Do you spend much (or enough) time alone?  Do you make sure you have that delicious do-whatever-you-want time, with no one around to pull your attention anywhere in particular? The day I began writing this entry was a heavenly day of freedom, not that I don’t like humans, just that I enjoy solitude whenever possible occasionally. It was a deliciously long and luxurious winter day which began with lying in the morning sun on my living room floor while talking to long-distance girlfriends.  Then came a little (delightful) research on the computer, yoga practice, a breath meditation, and finally a long bath including singing in the tub.  About that time, I noticed my rumbling tummy…. Lunch ideas began with dreams of tomatoes. Yes, it was the middle of winter.  Go figure.  It’s not like there was a garden overflowing with heirloom tomatoes just outside my window.  I don’t know what came over me. Just to be fair, “what to do with tomatoes” all began because of the two huge tomatoes ripening on my counter.  All morning, I walked by them, pondering the possibilites.  Thinking about how  I might prepare them, I wandered into my pantry to retrieve something.  My eyes fell on a cookbook I love and I thought, “I’ll just open that up…..” You know how one thing leads to another.  I opened the cookbook to a page about baked tomatoes of all things. I love how this works.  Just start thinking of tomatoes, and then open the perfect cook book to the perfect page…. To begin with, this is a gorgeous side dish.  Secondly, it’s downright delicious, easy to prepare, and impressive to any reasonable set of taste buds. This recipe is adapted from “Hudson Valley Mediterranean” by Laura Pensiero.  This is a wonderful cookbook, and I can’t sing her praises enough. Here we go.

Herbed Tomatoes Au Gratin

Oven 450 degrees

Fresh Herbs

2 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus more for the baking pan
1-1/4 c. coarse and crusty bread crumbs (I used Ezekiel sprouted bread)
You can mix in 1-2 T. chopped parsley if you like.
Mix bread crumbs (and optional parsley) with Olive Oil and set aside.
Use more Olive Oil to grease a 9″ square casserole, or the equivalent.
1-1/2 pounds of tomatoes (2 huge or 3 large). Slice 1/2 to  3/4″ thick.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A handful or two of fresh baby spinach leaves
1/2 c. soft goat cheese
1/2 c. Asiago cheese, crumbled or broken

Putting It All Together

3 T. fresh chives, or a combination of fresh and dried herbs of your choice that go well with tomatoes.  I used fresh chives, parsley, thyme, and sage, all growing in pots on my window sill.
 
Assemble in layers.  Tomatoes, then salt and pepper, then herbs, then spinach leaves (not too many, mostly for color) then cheese and bread crumbs.  Then add two more layers,  finishing with bread crumbs on top.
 
Bake somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20 minutes, until bubbly and slightly browned on top.
 

Written by Terri Crosby on . Posted in Cooking and Baking, Health and Well-Being

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Terri Crosby

Helping you create life-affirming, ever-evolving, happier relationships with those you love. Follow me on twitter at@TerriCrosby or read myblog.

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She’s Got Love Fingers

Christie Lenee can play a guitar. She’s the 2017 International Finger Style Guitar Champion of the Year. In September of last year in London, she also won Acoustic Guitarist of the Year.

But lucky for us, she’s not just a champion guitar player. Christie Lenee is also quite the composer.

A friend of hers, Michael Pukac, requested that she write a song, one he described as “the story of love.” She scribbled notes and went to work.

Through Christie’s ability to imagine, his desire became music. Now she plays this song for the world with her love fingers. Lucky you, lucky me, lucky us.

Take very good care of yourself this week. Why not sing a little…

Love,

Terri

Terri’s book of photography combined with poetry: 100 Words: Small Servings of Whimsy and Wisdom to Calm the Mind and Nourish the Heart.

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Rise Up by Andra Day

What a great set of words for these oncoming days.

Rise Up

Andra Day
 
You’re broken down and tired
Of living life on a merry go round
And you can’t find the fighter
But I see it in you so we gonna walk it out
And move mountains
We gonna walk it out
And move mountains
And I’ll rise up
I’ll rise like the day
I’ll rise up
I’ll rise unafraid
I’ll rise up
And I’ll do it a thousand times again
And I’ll rise up
High like the waves
I’ll rise up
In spite of the ache
I’ll rise up
And I’ll do it a thousand times again
For you
For you
For you
For you
When the silence isn’t quiet
And it feels like it’s getting hard to breathe
And I know you feel like dying
But I promise we’ll take the world to its feet
And move mountains
Bring it to its feet
And move mountains
And I’ll rise up
I’ll rise like the day
I’ll rise up
I’ll rise unafraid
I’ll rise up
And I’ll do it a thousand times again
For you
For you
For you
For you
All we need, all we need is hope
And for that we have each other
And for that we have each other
And we will rise
We will rise
We’ll rise, oh, oh
We’ll rise
I’ll rise up
Rise like the day
I’ll rise up
In spite of the ache
I will rise a thousand times again
And we’ll rise up
High like the waves
We’ll rise up
In spite of the ache
We’ll rise up
And we’ll do it a thousand times again
For you
For you
For you
For you
Ah, ah, ah, ah
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Cassandra Monique Batie / Jennifer Decilveo
Rise Up lyrics © BMG Rights Management

Terri’s book of photography combined with poetry: 100 Words: Small Servings of Whimsy and Wisdom to Calm the Mind and Nourish the Heart.

Read more

Rippling Abs, Anyone?

Rippling Abs, Anyone?

During this strange time in history, I noticed y’all were tackling all sorts of interesting projects. I decided I needed one, too—something positive to remember the pandemic of 2020 by.
 
I decided to pay attention to something I had abandoned…
 
Nope, I’m not cleaning my garage. I am not organizing one single thing. I’m not planting a garden or cleaning up my yard.
 
Instead, I decided to take care of myself better. This, folks, has made all the difference for me.
 
With relatively little time and effort on my part, I feel so much better than I did a month ago.
 
On March 30, I got on the exercise bike and the yoga mat for the first time in a long time, and did 30 minutes each. I liked it so much that I decided to do it every day. But I fell short of that, and changed my commitment to every other day, which felt more manageable, reasonable, and doable.
 
I also get off the bike after every song, take a couple of sips of water, shake out my legs and arms for a few seconds, and get back on. This makes the bike project a reasonable proposition, too.
 
Daily walks of any length—by myself, or with my little guy, Jackson—are a fresh air bonus.
 
My recumbent exercise bike has pulleys to work my upper body while I pedal, which gets my heart rate up fast, and also helps my whole-body strength. It feels good to get up from writing, or doing a consulting session with a client, to do something physically challenging while listening to good music.
 
After only a month, I feel a sheet of muscles on the front of me I haven’t felt for a very, very long time. Goodness gracious. Who knew they were there. I’ll be posting rippling ab photos soon, I’m sure.
 
I have no idea what the scales have to say about my bike/yoga project—I don’t care. Paying attention to scales tends to send me sideways, and therefore, I’m ignoring them completely.
 
But—I LOVE the way I feel! Hang in there, everyone.
 

Terri’s book of photography combined with poetry: 100 Words: Small Servings of Whimsy and Wisdom to Calm the Mind and Nourish the Heart.

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Terri Crosby

Hendersonville, NC
USA

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terri@incareofrelationships.com

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