Lunch Off the Top, Not Over It!!!
I was home for lunch the other day. My two children were out of school—home with me-- and my wife, a teacher, was doing in-service work. It was my job to get lunch for the three of us.
Feeding lunch to children is simple. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are the staple. PB&J sandwiches are simple to prepare and, when paired with fruit and milk, nutritionally quite sound.
After building those sandwiches, I was left in a bit of a spot. I was not terrifically interested a PB&J. There were some cans of soup in the pantry, but I could muster no inspiration to prepare one. A man has to eat (that is a dangerous mantra!). I kicked in the other side of the brain and got creative.
A quick scan of the kitchen revealed some tomatoes. I recalled seeing stuffed tomatoes at different times in my wanderings. Usually these cafeteria fare are a tomato with top removed and the interior filled with a measure of tuna salad. I latched onto the basic idea and modified it some.
I lopped the top off the tomato and removed the seeds. In a bowl, I mixed up a teaspoon of capers and 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and two drops of liquid smoke. This mixture is poured inside the tomato and then the tomato was topped with shredded Monterey Jack cheese. I baked it at 350 until the cheese melted and started to turn brown. After baking, I dusted the top with a good shake of Parmesan cheese.
I had a baguette of sourdough leftover from a meal the night before. I sliced it thin and served it with the tomato. The tomato was filled with the caper, mustard mix. Dipping the bread into the interior was a real tasty treat!!
It was simple and fun and has probably been done before—but not by this Man in The Kitchen!!!
Feeding lunch to children is simple. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are the staple. PB&J sandwiches are simple to prepare and, when paired with fruit and milk, nutritionally quite sound.
After building those sandwiches, I was left in a bit of a spot. I was not terrifically interested a PB&J. There were some cans of soup in the pantry, but I could muster no inspiration to prepare one. A man has to eat (that is a dangerous mantra!). I kicked in the other side of the brain and got creative.
A quick scan of the kitchen revealed some tomatoes. I recalled seeing stuffed tomatoes at different times in my wanderings. Usually these cafeteria fare are a tomato with top removed and the interior filled with a measure of tuna salad. I latched onto the basic idea and modified it some.
I lopped the top off the tomato and removed the seeds. In a bowl, I mixed up a teaspoon of capers and 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and two drops of liquid smoke. This mixture is poured inside the tomato and then the tomato was topped with shredded Monterey Jack cheese. I baked it at 350 until the cheese melted and started to turn brown. After baking, I dusted the top with a good shake of Parmesan cheese.
I had a baguette of sourdough leftover from a meal the night before. I sliced it thin and served it with the tomato. The tomato was filled with the caper, mustard mix. Dipping the bread into the interior was a real tasty treat!!
It was simple and fun and has probably been done before—but not by this Man in The Kitchen!!!
posted by maninthekitchen at 7:23 AM
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