Fried Green Tomatoes

I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for some time. But, end of the summer activities just seemed to take over my life. I’m not complaining—it was all fun.

We loaded up the truck with clothes, a fridge, and various gear and got my son back to college life. We enjoyed a beautiful Labor Day weekend at the beach and had the pleasure of sharing in the engagement celebration of a young couple who are friends of my niece. We joined neighborhood friends for a Labor Day dinner. The finale—a weekend at Pawleys Island. What a beautiful, serene place with lovely people who were nice enough to share it with us.

My life is not always so wonderfully active. Sometimes it’s just active with work and chores and other must-do type things. You know, just regular life. Now that my wonderful end of the summer whirlwind is over it’s back to normalcy.

I made Fried Green Tomatoes just before all this fun began but never had the time to share the recipe.

We had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year but the weather didn’t permit them to all ripen. So, fried green tomatoes it was. You might think the tomatoes would be hard and tart because that’s how they look. Not to worry—they transform in the frying pan. The heat from the cooking softens them and brings out a subtle tomato flavor.

Hopefully you have a few more on the vine so you can try this. If not, just tag it for next year’s tomatoes. They’re easy, delicious, and different. I think you’ll enjoy them.

Fried Green Tomatoes

2 green tomatoes

½ cup milk substitute (rice, hemp, or soy milk)

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ cup cornmeal

½ cup gluten free breadcrumbs

½ teaspoon each salt and pepper

¼ teaspoon paprika

1 ½ teaspoons chopped or dry parsley

vegetable and olive oil for frying

Set out two small glass pie plates. Place the milk substitute and olive oil in one and all the dry ingredients—cornmeal, GF breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, paprika and parsley—in the other.

Whisk the “milk” and olive oil together. Then, in the other dish, mix the dry ingredients with a fork.

Heat about ¼ inch vegetable oil in a cast iron frying pan over medium high heat. I like to use canola or grapeseed oil with a few tablespoons of olive oil for taste.

Slice the tomatoes into ¼ inch slices. Dip them first in the “milk”/olive oil mixture and then in the corn flour/breadcrumb mixture coating both sides thoroughly.

Place each round carefully into the hot oil. Fry for a minute or so until one side is brown then gently flip it over and brown the other side. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.

Don’t overcrowd the frying pan and be sure to add more oil if necessary in later batches. If you don’t keep the oil level high enough they will have a tendency burn.

Serve the tomatoes warm.

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Asian Pear Salad with Maple Vinaigrette

Ever have one of those moments when you open the fridge hoping something delicious will be shining out at you like a beacon of light? Days when you don’t want to think too hard about what to eat but you want something really easy and satisfying?

I have them all the time. It’s a lucky day when I can pick out this and that and have it come together as brilliantly as this salad. Seriously, no extra shopping was required for this. That almost never happens.

Asian pears and beets from the CSA. Snow peas left over from a stir fry dinner. The ever present red onion and goat cheese. Candied walnuts—made last night just because I love them! And a lime vinaigrette sweetened with a little maple syrup. This is not your everyday salad.

It’s nice when all the planets align—good food in the fridge, the time & desire to experiment, and in the end a winning result. So, look in your fridge. See what you can create. You might be pleasantly surprised. I know I was.

Asian Pear Salad with Maple Vinaigrette

2 handfuls snow peas, lightly steamed

1 beet, roasted

1 large or 2 small asian pears

1 slice of red onion, diced

1/4 cup goat feta, crumbled

1/8 cup candied or plain walnuts

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice

1 teaspoon white balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon maple syrup

salt and pepper

Peel and cut the beet into 1/4 inch slices and then each slice in halves again. Cut the pear in quarters & core the four pieces. Cut each quarter into three or four wedges. Dice the red onion.

Line the plate attractively with the snow peas. Top with the beets and asian pears. Sprinkle with the goat cheese, red onion, and walnuts. (I like Ellie Krieger’s Maple Glazed Walnuts.)

To make the vinaigrette pour the olive oil in a small bowl and whisk in the lime juice, balsamic vinegar and maple syrup. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle over the salad.

Makes one large or two smaller salads.

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