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Another winner from The City Gardener’s Cookbook! I made these a while back when it was still tomato season. I loved the greens and cheese mixture used for the filling. It was a little rich but also very healthy and a good way to get a few greens into the diet. You can use any type of greens - chard, endive, parsley, arugula, spinach, mustard, and kale are all good.

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup chopped greens
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1/2 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Cheddar cheese
• 1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 °F. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the onions and garlic until tender. Add the greens, stir, and remove from the heat.

Hollow out the tomatoes by scraping out the seeds, pulp, and juice with a spoon. Add tomato pulp and vinegar to the greens. Return to heat and simmer until the juice from the tomatoes evaporates and the greens are tender.

Remove from the heat and stir in the bread crumbs, cheddar and Parmesan. Fill the tomatoes with the warm stuffing and bake in a greased loaf pan for 15 to 20 minutes.

Yield: 2 servings

I recently got a new cookbook, The City Gardener’s Cookbook, which focuses on how to use up all your garden produce. I do not have a garden but I love veggies so I figured this book would be good. It is my favorite cookbook of the week! This book has so many yummy and unique vegetable recipes - I cannot wait to try them all. Cheesy Vegetable Casserole, only slightly modified, was my first recipe out of the book. It turned out quite well and is a great way to showcase summer produce. It sounds looks more complicated to make than it really is.. I think the whole thing took me 1.5 hrs which includes the 30 min baking time for the eggplant and the 45 min baking time for the casserole. So mostly, I was just sitting around reading.

Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
• 1 medium potato, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ground pepper, to taste
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
• 2 large tomatoes, sliced
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 (8 oz) block cheddar cheese, grated

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the eggplant slices on a greased baking sheet and bake covered with foil for 30 minutes, or until tender.

Meanwhile, steam to potatoes for 5-7 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat and let cool. In a small bowl, mix breadcrumbs, basil and oregano. Mix salt and pepper with eggs.

When eggplant is done, remove from oven and turn oven down to 375 degrees.

Oil a 9×13″ pan and dust with 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs. Make two layers of: eggplant, potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, egg mixture, olive oil, breadcrumbs, cheese.

Bake, covered, at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Serves: 8-10 as a side dish; 4-5 as a main dish

This is my basic polenta recipe. It’s great eaten right away, when it’s hot. Or it can be spread thin, chilled, sliced, then sauteed or grilled to make polenta “cutlets”.

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 1 cup coarse-ground yellow cornmeal (polenta)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon butter or olive oil
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Cook the polenta. In a heavy saucepan, begin heating the water over medium heat. Slowly whisk in the polenta to prevent lumps from forming. Add the salt and stir constantly until the polenta comes to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and continue stirring for about 40 minutes. Constant stirring is best but frequent stirring is okay.

Season and serve the polenta. Slowly stir in the butter or olive oil and the Parmesan cheese. Scoop into shallow bowls or onto plates and serve immediately. (more…)