There’s something real special about using heirloom tomatoes as opposed to hybrid varieties. Heirloom tomatoes are ‘breed true’, meaning that the seeds can be saved to grow more of the same tomatoes year after year. Generally, they are more expensive because they are not as prolific as hybrids, and they do not ship or store well.
The seeds from heirloom tomatoes (also called heritage tomatoes) have been selected over many years for desirable traits, such as size, color, and taste. They are open-pollinated, meaning that bees, moths, birds, bats, wind, or rain pollinate the tomato flowers.
These days, many hybrid tomatoes are bred for traits such as high yield, disease resistance, and the ability to ship and store well. This decreases costs for farmers and consumers and minimizes waste due to spoiled produce.
However, this cost savings and efficiency comes at the expense of flavor. When you cross two tomato plants to make the offspring disease resistant or highly productive, you may also lose other traits, such as rich flavor.
This is exactly what has happened to many hybrid tomato varieties: they have lost some of the sugar and nutrient content that makes heirloom tomatoes taste sweeter and juicier. These little gems add such a special touch to this savory summer tart.
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Savory Heirloom Tomato Tart
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Ingredients
Parmesan Buttermilk Pastry
Ingredients
Parmesan Buttermilk Pastry
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Instructions
Filling
Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut tomatoes into ½-inch-thick slices. Place about 7 or 8 slices (enough to cover top of pie) on a baking sheet lined with paper towels, and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Cover with additional paper towels, and reserve.
Arrange remaining tomatoes in a single layer on a lightly greased wire rack set on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of the salt. Bake in preheated oven until wilted and slightly dried out, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
Make Parmesan-Buttermilk Pie Crust. Instructions below.
While pie crust cools, cook bacon in a skillet over medium-high until fat is beginning to render, 4 to 5 minutes. Add chopped shallots, and cook until bacon is crisp and shallots are caramelized, 6 to 7 more minutes. Stir in garlic; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon mixture to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Cool 20 minutes.
Stir together cheese, ranch dressing, basil paste, chives, Dijon, and egg until combined. Sprinkle with pepper and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt & spices. Fold in bacon mixture.
Gently spread a third of cheese mixture onto cooled Parmesan-Buttermilk Crust; layer with half of the roasted tomato slices in slightly overlapping pattern. Spread another third of cheese mixture on top of tomato slices. Repeat with remaining roasted tomato slices and cheese mixture. Top with reserved sliced fresh tomatoes, pressing filling gently into crust. Shield edges of pie with aluminum foil.
Bake in preheated oven until filling is set, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let stand 1 hour before serving. Garnish with chopped green onion or chives.
Pastry
Pulse flour, cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in food processor until combined. Add butter and shortening. Pulse until butter and shortening are pea size pieces, about 5 times. Drizzle in buttermilk processing until dough begins to just come together. Gather and lightly knead dough into a ball on a large piece of plastic wrap; flatten into disk and wrap tightly. Chill at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll dough on a floured surface into a 15- to 16-inch circle about 1/3 inch thick. Transfer to a 9-inch deep dish pie plate. Trim edges leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold edges under and crimp. Freeze dough at least 20 minutes.
Line piecrust with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake at 400°F 20 minutes. Remove parchment and weights and bake until edges are golden and bottom of crust is set, about 8 more minutes. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
Recipe Notes
- Whether using store-bought or homemade dough, don't forget to blind-bake the crust (bake it a bit on its own) before adding the filling. This extra step will keep the crust from turning soggy as the pie bakes.
- Another good pastry alternative would be one with cornmeal in it.
When you think of Mexican food you probably think of the standard burritos, nachos and quesadillas. While those dishes are definitely tasty why not do the summer ‘thing’ and incorporate these ingredients in a salad.
The idea of a full meal salad has always appealed to me. Of course, there are many of these using a variety of ingredients. Probably one of the most popular was the taco salad. The earliest record of it dates back to the 1960’s with its predecessor being the small teacup sized ‘Tacup’. It consisted of beef, beans, sour cream and cheese, served in a small ‘bowl’ made entirely of a Fritos tortilla.
The taco in a Tacup was invented by Charles Elmer Doolin, the founder of Fritos (tortilla chips). He created a device that looked like tongs but with two tart molds at the end of each tong. One mold would fit within the other mold with a tortilla sandwiched between them. The scalloped-edged shell was dipped into hot oil. Holes in the bottom mold exposed the tortilla to the hot oil, enabling it to cook evenly.
Tacups were first served in Dallas, Texas in the early 1950’s and by 1955, he was selling them in Fritos’ flagship restaurant, ‘Casa de Fritos’, at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. It became popular enough that the Tacup was made bigger and served as a full, main-dish sized salad bowl.
Today’s salad is a satisfying meal, a seriously feel-good dinner salad that’s crisp, spicy, and fresh all at once. Tacos de camarones (‘shrimp tacos’) originated in Baja California in Mexico. But these shrimp tacos in salad form gives you that full meal deal. All the very best elements —seasoned shrimp, healthy fresh veggies, in an edible tortilla bowl with a homemade cilantro lime dressing.
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Shrimp Taco Salad
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Ingredients
Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing
Ingredients
Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Cilantro Dressing
In a food processor, place the cilantro, garlic, avocado, lime juice, honey, coriander & salt. Pulse to combine. With the machine is running, pour in the olive oil & process until smooth.
Shrimp
In a medium bowl, add all marinade ingredients (except shrimp) & blend well. Add shrimp tossing well to coat. Set aside to marinate for 15 minutes. In a saucepan, melt a Tbsp butter then sauté shrimp over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or just until shrimp is cooked.
Salad Ingredients
In a saucepan, fry bacon until cooked but not too crisp, drain on paper towel & chop. Drain canned or cook fresh corn on the cob & remove kernels from cob. Peel, pit & cube avocado. Sprinkle a bit of lime juice on it to keep it from going brown. Halve grape tomatoes. Slice green onions, chives & dill. Drain sliced black olives. Cube cheese.
Tortilla Bowls
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Brush inside of 2 heat resistant glass bowls with oil. Place one tortilla in each bowl so that the shape more or less adheres to the bowl. Line each tortilla with cheese slices then place a second tortilla on top.
Place the bowls with the layered tortillas in the oven & bake for 7 minutes. Remove the bowls from the oven & allow to cool before removing the 'edible tortilla bowls'.
Assembly
Place tortilla bowls on serving plates. In a large mixing bowl place shrimp & all salad ingredients. Toss gently, then divide between tortilla bowls. Drizzle with cilantro dressing (or dressing of choice) & serve.
For some of us, the best part of salads is everything but the greens! I have always had a hard time digesting lettuce so I’m never drawn to it when we get to salad season.
The idea of a full meal (lettuce-less) salad has always appealed to me. Of course there are many of these using a variety of ingredients. Probably one of the most popular was the taco salad. The earliest record of it dates back to the 1960’s with its predecessor being the small teacup-sized ‘Tacup’. It consisted of beef, beans, sour cream and cheese, served in a small ‘bowl’ made entirely of a Fritos tortilla.
The taco in a Tacup was invented by Charles Elmer Doolin, the founder of Fritos (tortilla chips). He created a device that looked like tongs but with two tart molds at the end of each tong. One mold would fit within the other mold with a tortilla sandwiched between them. The scalloped-edged shell was the dipped into hot oil. Holes in the bottom mold exposed the tortilla to the hot oil, enabling it to cook evenly.
Tacups were first served in Dallas, Texas in the early 1950’s and by 1955, he was selling them in Fritos’ flagship restaurant, ‘Casa de Fritos’, at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. It became popular enough that the Tacup was made bigger and served as a full, main-dish sized salad bowl.
Today’s salad is a satisfying meal (without a shred of lettuce) served in an edible tortilla bowl.
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Chicken Avocado Fiesta Salad
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Ingredients
Salad
- 2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
- 6 strips bacon
- 1-2 cobs of corn, cooked
- 2 avocados, peeled, pitted & cubed
- 1 large Roma tomato, diced
- 2-3 green onions, sliced
- 1/3 cup black olives, sliced
- 80 grams Gouda cheese, cubed small
- 2 Tbsp chives, thinly sliced
- 2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
- 6 strips bacon
- 1-2 cobs of corn, cooked
- 2 avocados, peeled, pitted & cubed
- 1 large Roma tomato, diced
- 2-3 green onions, sliced
- 1/3 cup black olives, sliced
- 80 grams Gouda cheese, cubed small
- 2 Tbsp chives, thinly sliced
- 2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Marinade
In a small bowl, whisk together marinade ingredients. In a large resealable plastic bag, pour marinade. Add sliced chicken; seal & turn to coat. Refrigerate for 1-4 hours. When finished marinating, cook chicken over medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes or until meat is no longer pink. Remove from heat & set aside.
Salad
Cook corn cobs in a pot of boiling, salted water, covered for 5-7 minutes. When cool enough to handle, hold the corncob vertically on a slip-proof cutting board & cut corn kernels from top to bottom around the sides with a sharp knife. Leave corn in bite-sized pieces.
Fry bacon slices until brown & crispy. Chop into small pieces.
Peel, pit & cube avocados. Sprinkle with a bit of lime or lemon juice to keep from turning brown. Dice Roma tomato. Slice green onions, chives & dill. Drain sliced black olives. Cube Gouda cheese.
Tortilla Bowls
Preheat oven to 350 F. Brush the inside of 2 heat-resistant glass bowls with oil. Place one tortilla in each bowl so that the shape more or less adheres to the bowl. Line each tortilla with cheddar cheese slices & then place the second tortilla on top.
Place the bowls with the layered tortillas in the oven & bake for 7 minutes. Remove the bowls from the oven & allow to cool before removing the 'edible tortilla bowls'.
Assembly
Place tortilla bowls on serving plates. Place cooked chicken on the bottom, top with corn, avocados, tomato, onions, olives Gouda & herbs. Drizzle with Ranch dressing (or dressing of choice). If you wish, before putting the dressing on, give it 30 seconds in the microwave to warm it slightly again.
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