Food Network Inspired

I love The Food Network. I'm sure many of you, being foodies, also love it, but my love can be described by some as unhealthy. Nine times out of ten, The Food Network is what is on my television. When that's not on, it's usually The Cooking Channel or The Travel Channel. I'm not a creature of habit or anything.

I digress. I had no idea what to make for dinner tonight. I initially thought Indian food, but decided to wait and possibly celebrate Indian Wednesday a la Fitnessista.Then I remembered I had a few tomatoes in the fridge which should be used up, so I got to googling tomato recipes. After sifting through pages of marinara and fried green tomatoes, I stumbled upon a recipe from Ina Garten for tomatoes provençal and knew I had to make it. I did, however, make some modifications.


Tomatoes provençal (adapted from Ina Garten)
Ingredients
- 2 medium tomatoes, halved with insides removed
- 1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs*
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil + more for finishing
- Sprinkling of vegan parmesan
- S&P, to taste

Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Set tomato halves in a baking dish and season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, mix breadcrumbs with herbs, salt and pepper. Fill each tomato half with 2-3 tablespoons of breadcrumb mixture. Sprinkle pressed or minced garlic evenly on top and drizzle 1 tsp of olive oil over each tomato half (to keep tomatoes moist).
- Bake for 20 minutes. After 15 minutes, sprinkle with vegan parmesan** and put back into the oven for 5 more minutes, or until top is browned and tomatoes are soft. Drizzle with more olive oil and serve!

* For the breadcrumbs, I cubed 2oz of locally made baguette and toasted them in a 250 oven until bone dry (15-20 minutes). Then I put the cubes into the food processor until they reached my desired consistency.

** I'm sure you can just put the parmesan on top when you first put them in the oven, but I enjoy taking a dish out towards the end and adding the "cheese"; it tickles me.


These were so good for being so simple. The flavors of the herbs came through nicely and the dish tasted so fresh and light. I highly recommend using fresh breadcrumbs and high quality bread because store bought just doesn't compare. I also recommend sprinkling the top with garlic instead of mixing it in with the breadcrumbs because it added another layer of flavor which I enjoyed.


They're so beautiful, too.