The Lonely Tomato

This past week you got a lone tomato in your Crop Share, so what to do with this solo tomato?  Sure, you could dice it up for a salad garnish or to mix in with a homemade burrito bowl (it's not you it's me, Chipotle, I'm trying to quit you).  But, I really think you should take that tomato...and stuff it!

That's right, stuff that tomato and bake it up!  Pretty much whatever you have on hand that will taste delicious with a tomato will work, so get creative with those leftovers.  I've even seen pasta-stuffed baked tomatoes on Pinterest!  And since this makes a great lunch-for-one, you don't have to share!

For mine, I preheat the oven to 375 degrees, lop off the top of the tomato, hollow it out and stuff mine with a mixture of 1/4 cup of cooked quinoa, some spices (usually salt, pepper & garlic powder, at least), a heaping spoonful of cream cheese (Tofutti makes an amazing dairy-free version), the diced up lid of the tomato, and then I'll continue to build from there with what I have on hand.  So last week it was some slices of zucchini added in (pictured above), and another time it was leftover shredded chicken.  And then just set it in a baking dish and bake for about 15-20 minutes at 375.  You'll want the skin on the tomato to just start to split or peel, and if you're using a stuffing that's more on the dry side (like the quinoa), you'll want to drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top before baking.

Don't let that tomato stay lonely, invite it to your lunch-for-one for a bright and fresh lunchtime interlude!


P.S. Did you notice on your Week 4 Crop Share sheet that we're looking for Nall's Next Blog Superstar?  That's right, we want YOU to send us your guest blog posts!  Because not only do we want to know what's cookin', but also a $20 gift card is up for grabs!  Wait, a $20 gift card, can I enter myself?  And while America's Next Top Model may have Tyra Banks, we have Penny the pig, so Penny, please remind our members what's at stake...

"The winner of Nall's Next Blog Superstar will receive a featured blog post on Nalls Crop Share Recipe Blog, a $20 gift certificate to use in our produce store & garden center, and an oink of approval from myself."  

Thanks for that Penny!  So get cooking and send your guest blog posts to cropshare@nallsproduce.com and you will be in the running to be Nall's Next Blog Superstar!