Baked Tomatoes

I bought a large container of tomatoes because they were on sale and then got home and thought “What do I do with a bunch of tomatoes?”

Some of my options were –

• Slice them and eat them raw
• Slice them and add them to a salad
• Make a stir fry and include them in it
• Make homemade salsa
• Make homemade spaghetti sauce

All of those options were good but instead, I decided to bake them as a side dish. And, they came out pretty good.

The recipe calls for aged grated parmesan cheese which is not really paleo but more primal (the primal diet allows cheese). It’s quite interesting reading about the difference between the paleolithic diet and the primal diet. There are so many opinions and variations on these diets — it’s enough to make your head spin.

Despite this, I’m putting this recipe under the paleo category and you can choose whether to add the cheese or not —

First, you’ll need a few ingredients …

Next, you’ll be combining the oregano, cheese, salt and pepper. It will look like this …

You can use basil (dried or freshly chopped) or any other herb you like.

Next, you’ll be slicing your tomatoes lengthwise and putting some of your herb mixture on top of each tomato. Then you’ll be pouring a little bit of olive oil over the tomato halves.

Next they’ll go in the oven … Are you ready to try it?

Ingredients

• 4 large oblong-shaped tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
• 1 teaspoon oregano (I used dried)
• 1/4 cup freshly grated aged parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Ground pepper
• 4 teaspoons extra virgen olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450° Fahrenheit
2. Place tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet
3. In a small bowl, combine the oregano, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper
4. Top the tomatoes with the herb/cheese mixture
5. Drizzle the olive oil on top of the herb/cheese mixture
6. Bake the tomatoes until they are tender, about 15 minutes (but set your timer for 5 minutes earlier in case they get done sooner)

And that is pretty much it. They are juicy and great tasting!

This recipe was adapted a tad from Food.com.