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Fast & Easy Dinner: Tomatoes Stuffed With Spinach & Ham

partysugar — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 09:01:37 -0700

Tomatoes make a great edible vessel for a variety of fillings. For tonight's dinner, I propose a rich and indulgent stuffing in the form of creamy spinach, cheese, and ham. When baked in the oven, the tomatoes explode with juiciness, and the inside oozes into a wonderful taste sensation. Salute the weekend with crusty French bread for dipping and a glass of sparkling wine. To make this delicious dish tonight all you need is the recipe - and the groceries of course! - so read more

Tomatoes Stuffed with Spinach & Ham
From Good Housekeeping magazine

4 large ripe tomatoes (about 10 ounces each)
2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
4 ounces thickly sliced deli-baked ham, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Cut each tomato horizontally in half. With spoon, scoop out about 2 tablespoons pulp from each half. Coarsely chop tomato pulp and place in bottom of 13- by 9-inch ceramic or glass baking dish.
In medium bowl, mix spinach, ham, ricotta, 1/4 cup Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper.
Mound scant 1/2 cup spinach mixture into each tomato half; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.
Arrange tomatoes on pulp in baking dish. Bake tomatoes 25 minutes or until hot. Serve stuffed tomatoes with chopped tomatoes from baking dish. Garnish with parsley sprigs if you like.

Serves 4.

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Provencal Side: Stuffed Tomatoes

partysugar — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 09:18:39 -0700

When tomatoes are in season (now!), I like to take advantage of their juicy goodness and use them as often as possible. They taste wonderful sliced and sprinkled with salt, but for something a little more sophisticated serve them stuffed and roasted. Bread crumbs, lots of fresh parsley, and a dusting of Parmesan cheese fill these gorgeous red vessels. A rustic and classic French side, these tomatoes pair perfectly with grilled fish, a light creamy pasta, or a big bowl of steamed mussels. Sound tasty? Get the recipe when you, read more

Stuffed Tomatoes
From Cooking Light magazine
Image Source

8 tomatoes (about 8 ounces each)
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1 (1/2-ounce) slice sourdough bread
6 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Cooking spray
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Thyme leaves (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°.
Cut tops off tomatoes; discard. Carefully seed tomatoes, leaving shells intact. Sprinkle the cut sides of tomatoes with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Place tomatoes, cut sides down, on several layers of paper towels; drain for 15 minutes.
Place bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs form to measure 1/2 cup.
Combine breadcrumbs, 6 tablespoons parsley, cheese, and garlic in a small bowl.
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Place the tomatoes, cut sides down, in pan, and saute for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat; turn the tomatoes over.
Spoon about 2 tablespoons breadcrumb mixture over each tomato. Spray the breadcrumb mixture with cooking spray, and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper.
Wrap the handle of the pan with foil. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until the breadcrumb mixture browns.
Garnish with thyme leaves, if desired.

Serves 8.

Nutritional Information: CALORIES 73(35% from fat); FAT 2.8g (sat 0.8g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.4g); PROTEIN 3.3g; CHOLESTEROL 2mg; CALCIUM 60mg; SODIUM 234mg; FIBER 2.4g; IRON 1.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 10.8g

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Fast & Easy Dinner: Stuffed Chicken Breasts With Tomato Salad

partysugar — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:00:15 -0700

Artichoke hearts, whether they're canned, jarred, or frozen, are a great pantry staple. There're countless ways to employ them - you can marinate them, make a quick dip, or as is the case with this recipe, use them to stuff chicken breasts.

When mixed with fresh herbs and salty cheese, the artichoke hearts become a filling and flavorful stuffing that also seasons the chicken breast. A simple tomato salad rounds out the menu, creating a meal that is scrumptious and elegant enough for last-minute entertaining. To serve it to your family tonight, get the recipe.

Fast & Easy Dinner: Pork Chops Stuffed With Sundried Tomatoes and Spinach

YumSugar — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:45:19 -0700

Stuffed pork chops. When I see those three little words, I get weak in the knees. And when the stuffing involves sundried tomatoes and goat cheese, I am pretty much powerless to resist the stuffed pork chop's charms. So when I happened to catch Giada de Laurentiis making this recipe on TV a few Sundays ago, I had my dinner idea for the night.

Despite a fancy-sounding name and a surfeit of decadent ingredients, this pork recipe is incredibly simple to make. It starts with frozen spinach, cooked in a skillet with sundried tomatoes then mixed with goat cheese and cream cheese for the filling. Simply slice a pocket in the pork chops and cook on the stove until golden brown. As a bonus, the leftovers made great next-day sandwiches. To get the recipe, read more.

Pork Chops Stuffed With Sundried Tomatoes and Spinach
Giada de Laurentiis / Food Network

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. olive oil, plus 1 Tbsp.
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 sundried tomatoes, diced
1 (10-ounce) bag of frozen spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out
1/2 tsp. salt, plus more for seasoning
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 cup (2 ounces) goat cheese
1/3 cup reduced-fat cream cheese
4 (4-ounce) center-cut pork chops
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 lemon, zested
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. Dijon mustard

Directions

Warm the 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the sundried tomatoes, spinach, salt, pepper, and thyme. Cook until combined, about 2 more minutes. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Add the goat cheese and the cream cheese. Stir to combine and set aside.
Use a sharp knife to cut a pocket into the thickest portion of the pork chop. Stuff each pocket with 1/4 of the spinach and sundried tomato mixture and close the pork around the stuffing. Season the outside of the pork with salt and pepper.
In a small bowl combine the chicken broth, lemon zest, lemon juice, and mustard.
Warm the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot add the pork. Cook until golden and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the pork to a side dish and tent with foil to keep warm. Add the chicken broth mixture to the skillet over medium-high heat. Scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan as the chicken broth simmers. Reduce the broth by half to make a light sauce, about 8 minutes. Spoon some sauce over the pork before serving.

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Reader Recipe: Blue Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

YumSugar — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:00:21 -0800

TeamSugar regular FinnLover is not only well-versed with the kitchen techniques - she's also full of innovative cooking ideas. I started salivating when I saw her latest creation, chicken breast that's stuffed with creamy blue cheese and tangy sun-dried tomatoes, then topped with a balsamic reduction. Stuffing chicken not only makes dinner more exciting, but it also transforms the relatively lean breast into a succulent cut of meat. This elegant dish would be perfect for a Valentine's Day dinner at home. To see her original recipe, read more.

Submitted by TeamSugar member FinnLover

Blue Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Original recipe

This recipe is really fast and easy to make. It takes about two minutes to prepare and it tastes amazing. I like to serve it with a Balsamic vinegar reduction. Mashed potatoes, polenta or roasted asparagus all make great sides. If you don't like blue cheese, you can easily use goat cheese or fresh mozarella instead.

Ingredients

- Chicken breasts
- Blue cheese (I normally Bresse Bleu because it's not too strong and it's really creamy)
- Sun dried tomatoes (about 3 for each chicken breast)
- olive oil, pepper
- a good amount of Balsamic vinegar

Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 400 F (200 C).
2. Clean your chicken breasts and remove excess fat.
3. Cut a horizontal slit through one side of each chicken breast half. Don't open them completely!
4. Place your chicken on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Dispose two or three sun dried tomato on one side of the chicken breast. Make sure you remove as much oil as you can from your tomatoes or your oven will transform into a deep-fryer. Trust me. Cover with a big piece of cheese. Or two. I like cheese a lot.

5. Fold the other side of the chicken breast on top of the tomatoes and the cheese. Close as well as you can. Add as much pepper as you like and drizzle with a little olive oil.

6. Cook in the oven for about 20 minutes. 15 minutes if your chicken breasts were quite thin.
7. If you want to serve your chicken with a Balsamic vinegar reduction: five minutes before your chicken is ready, bring to a boil in a small saucepan a good quantity of Balsamic Vinegar. Let it reduce to about 1/3 to 1/4 of the original quantity. Keep an eye on it at all time and make sure it doesn't turn into caramel.
8. Drizzle some of the Balsamic reduction on top of your chicken and enjoy!

* If you had more time, you could make sure the chicken breast is well closed and sear it in a pan before popping it into the oven. The chicken would be more colorful and flavorful. The cooking time in the oven would then be reduced. I rarely do it because I enjoy the super fast and easy aspects of this recipe.

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Yummy Link: Goat Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes

partysugar — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:18:31 -0800

Although tomatoes aren't in season, these goat cheese stuffed tomatoes are gorgeous! They would be an excellent side to a simple roast chicken. - Running With Tweezers

Cherry Tomatoes Stuffed with Marinated Feta

partysugar — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:43:43 -0700

View Slideshow ›

Yummy Link: Stuffed Tomato Nests

YumSugar — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 06:08:31 -0700

In my opinion everything tastes great when eggs are involved. Which is why I am trying to figure out how come I have never thought of baking an egg inside of a tomato. This looks seriously delicious! - Serious Eats

Taste Test: Quizno's Toasty Bullet Subs

YumSugar — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:30:07 -0700

It's a well documented fact that I'm a fiend for sandwiches; likewise, PartySugar loves them, especially warm, toasty paninis. Naturally, when Quizno's launched its new Toasty Bullets, it wasn't long before we went to our neighborhood outpost to check them out.

Customers can get a Toasty Bullet in five different flavors: Italian, Big Kahuna Tuna, Pesto Turkey, Turkey Club, and Beef, Bacon & Cheddar. The snack-sized sandwiches are about eight inches long and two inches wide, cost a dollar or two less than the average Quizno's sandwich, and come in a nifty paper pocket to assist with easy, on-the-go eating. Did any of these stun us with their bold flavors - or should you be dodging these bullets? Find out after the jump

Fast & Easy Dinner: Greek Orzo-Stuffed Peppers

partysugar — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:50:44 -0700

With their chickpea, orzo, and spinach filling, these stuffed peppers are a delightful vegetarian meal. Although there are several steps, this recipe is quick and uncomplicated. The pepper shells are flash cooked in the microwave, but if you prefer to throw them on the grill instead, do so. The stuffing mixture is adaptable, so you can take advantage of ingredients you already have at home: goat cheese can replace feta and fresh tomatoes stand in nicely for sun-dried tomatoes. To learn the technique, read more.

Greek Orzo-Stuffed Peppers
From Eating Well

Ingredients

4 yellow, orange and/or red bell peppers
1/2 cup whole-wheat orzo
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
6 ounces baby spinach, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, divided
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed), chopped
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or red-wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Halve peppers lengthwise through the stems, leaving the stems attached. Remove the seeds and white membrane. Place the peppers cut-side down in a large microwave-safe dish. Add 1/2 inch water, cover and microwave on High until the peppers are just softened, 7 to 9 minutes. Let cool slightly, drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add orzo and cook until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes or according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
Mash chickpeas into a chunky paste with a fork, leaving some whole.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 4 minutes.
Add spinach and oregano and cook, stirring, until the spinach is wilted, about 1 minute. Stir in the orzo, chickpeas, 1/2 cup feta, tomatoes, vinegar and salt; cook until heated through, about 1 minute.
Divide the filling among the pepper halves and sprinkle each pepper with some of the remaining 1/4 cup feta.

Serves 4.

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