Butter Bean & Artichoke Tomato Sauce

There's nothing like the smell of homemade tomato sauce. You really feel like you made a gourmet healthful meal pus it is SO easy. The stuff in the jar works for last minute meals but if you have some times please please try making your own. You will love yourself for it. All you need is high quality crushed tomatoes in a can (I used an Italian brand from my local grocery store), garlic, salt and thats it! The rest is up to your imagination. I dumped in a can of artichoke hearts and a can of butter beans. The butter beans gave sort of a smokey undertone which I liked. I also threw in some sliced kalamata olives. Absolutely delicious!

Shakshuka!

Many of you may not be familiar with this Israeli dish, but let me tell you, Israeli or not — you will LOVE this! I grew up on this dish and it was a treat every time my mom made it for brunch. Last year I had it at the famous Dr. Shakshuka restaurant in Tel-Aviv. They served it right out of the skillet and was absolutely amazing. It was even better with toast to soak up every last bit of juice. I decided to make it for dinner tonight as a treat and boy was it a treat! AND it was quick which made it even better. This is definitely a crowd pleaser and easy to double or triple the recipe. Perfect for guests or just yourself!

I forgot to add the basil before I took the picture, so pretend its there. Thanks!

Shakshuka (Serves 2)

1 onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 pepper (green or red), sliced

1 can tomatoes, crushed (you can use fresh tomatoes and crush them by hand too)

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

black pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

3 eggs (you can use 4 for this recipe, but I only had 3 on hand)

cilantro, basil or parsley for garnish

1 Saute onions until softened. Then add green peppers until softened. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or so.

2 Pour tomatoes and water in the same pan as the veggies. Season with salt and pepper and cumin.

3 Crack egg into a glass and pour directly into the sauce. Proceed with the rest of the eggs, equally distanced from each other.

4 Cover and cook until eggs are set. Garnish with basil cilantro or parsley.

Fresh Okra and Tomato salad

I love okra any which way — raw, fried, or sauteed — but what I don't love is the slime. Why? Why? Why must there be slime when you cook okra?! I believe the trick is to keep them whole, and not cut them into bite-sized pieces. In this lovely side dish, I cooked the okra whole over medium high heat and then threw in some grape tomatoes. The sauce is lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Thats it! This is a perfect weeknight dinner side dish or a festive labor day dish!

Sauteed Fresh Okra and Tomato Salad

1/2 lb fresh okra

10 or so grape tomatoes, split lengthwise

1 garlic clove, minced

Juice of half a lemon

salt 'n' peppa

1 Trim ends of okra and cook over medium high heat until bright green and slightly softened.

2 Throw in the tomatoes and garlic, and squeeze lemon juice into pan and mix all together.

3 Season with salt and pepper and serve!

Fried Green Tomatoes

My laptop is out for repair :( so I haven't been able to post as much without being able to upload photos, but I found this old shot of fried green tomatoes that I never got around to posting. I've never actually had green tomatoes - fried or unfried - nor have I seen the movie but I decided to give it a shot. These crispy disks of tart green tomatoes were great with lemon squeezed on top, or even dipped in marinara sauce. I guess I need to go see the movie now! Any recommendations?

Thrifty note
This small rectangular plate is from a local thrift store and I believe is hand painted. It's so blue and pretty, isn't it?