Pesto Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

My mother-in-law had an overflow of cherry tomatoes, so she gave me a fair number of them.  I am going to a barbecue for Labor Day, so I decided to try and make stuffed cherry tomatoes.  I like pesto and I had a package of basil, so making them pesto seemed like a good plan.  They were surprisingly easy, once I got the cherry tomatoes ready to be stuffed.

Makes 25 stuffed tomatoes

25 cherry tomatoes
2 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

1. Clean cherry tomatoes.  With a paring knife, cut the top off of the tomato.  Use the tip of the paring knife to loosen the center of the tomato, like the hull of a strawberry.  Working over a bowl or garbage can, remove the seeds and liquid from the center of the tomato with the tip of your finger.  Set tomato cut-side down on a paper towel to drain and repeat process with remaining tomatoes.
2. In sandwich-sized plastic resealable bag, combine the cream cheese and mayonnaise.  Add basil and garlic salt to bag.  Close bag, squeezing out excess air.  Squish the bags between your fingers until ingredients are combined.  Cut 1/8th inch corner off of the bag.  Squeeze filling from plastic bag into tomatoes as if from a piping bag.  Sprinkle filled tomatoes with Parmesan cheese.  Store tomatoes in an air-tight bag until you are ready to serve them, up to 24 hours.

Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad

Even though I served this over field greens, it can actually be eaten on it's own as well.  I would recommend, though, that if you are eating it alone you add about a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar when you add the vinegar.  It makes a pretty good lunch for a hot summer day.

Serves 2

1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 cup cubed fresh mozzarella
1/4 teaspoon dried basil or 1 teaspoon fresh basil, minced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
3 cups field greens, cleaned and chopped

1. In small bowl, toss together tomatoes and mozzarella.  Top with basil and drizzle with vinegar and oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Stir well.
2. Divide greens between two bowls.  Top with tomato mixture and serve immediately.

Creamy Coleslaw

This coleslaw is good on it's own, but it's especially good with the shredded pork loin recipe that is listed here.  The recipe makes a coleslaw that is creamy and a little bit sweet, which is a good pairing with the spicy bitter shredded pork.  I had coleslaw like this in North Carolina visiting my friend and this recipe is close to what I had.

Serves 8-10

16 oz bag coleslaw mix (I just used a purple cabbage from the CSA, shredded)
2 tablespoon minced onion
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash ground black pepper
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Mix cabbage, carrots, onion, and salt.  Pour into strainer and let sit for 1-2 hours.  Discard liquids.
2. Mix remaining ingredients in the bottom of a bowl.
3. Toss with drained cabbage, carrots, and onion.  Refrigerate at least one hour before serving.
4. Serve with Eastern Carolina Pork either as a main dish or as a sandwich.

Honeydew Salad

I suppose this couldn't really be considered a salad if it only has one kind of fruit.  But it is a salad for lack of a better term.  Other melons can be added to this, as well as firm berries like blueberries or raspberries, and it will still taste fantastic.  There really isn't a limit to the creativity; I just used honeydew because I found a good one on sale.  Whatever you use, the dressing will make it lightly sweet and very refreshing.  Perfect for summer.

Serves 4-6

Juice of 1/2 lime
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon torn mint leaves
1 honeydew melon, cut into bite-sized pieces

1. In a large bowl with a sealing lid, mix lime juice and brown sugar until sugar dissolves.  Stir in mint.  Toss juice mixture with honeydew pieces until evenly coated (the mint will be a good indicator of this).  Chill fruit for at least 3 hours or up to 4 days (if keeping longer than 2 days, drain off juices after 2 days to prevent sogginess).