Tag Archives: tomato

Eggplant Tomato Rice Pastelón / Arroz Relleno

5 Mar

I have been meaning to make a recipe for a Rice Pastelón for quite some time… and then the other day, my mom and Mili surprised me with the news they’re making a rice pastelón and they want me to document it for the blog. Sweet!!!

When I was growing up, the mom of a very, very good friend of mine loved to cook rice pastelones, or Arroz Relleno as she would call it. At the time it was rice on the bottom, stewed chicken in the middle and rice on the top, covered of course with cheese. I have debated how I would adapt Lolita’s recipe to make it vegetarian and as reminiscent of that original arroz relleno as possible… that’s where I stayed in the idea/concept stage.

But Mili and Mami did one better… Picture this – imagine layers of rice with layers of eggplant and tomato and cheese in between. Genius, right?? Genius and DELICIOUS… you will make a large mold of this because you WANT to have leftovers. I guarantee it…

EGGPLANT TOMATO RICE PASTELON

3 cups of cooked brown rice
2 large tomatoes, sliced
1 large eggplant, peeled and sliced
1 large onion, chopped large
½ cup of strained tomatoes or tomato sauce or marinara sauce
2 cups of shredded cheese
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Garlic and Herb Seasoning
1 vegetable bouillon cube

First, you need to cook all the components…

  1. Cook your rice the usual way you know how to cook brown rice. I make it in a rice cooker seasoning it with a little bit of salt, a drizzle of olive oil and a vegetable bouillon cube. I try to smash the cube and mix it in water before turning it on so the water is flavored evenly. After the rice is made, set aside.
  2. Meanwhile, season the tomato slices with salt and garlic/herb seasoning mixture. Place slices side by side in a baking dish or tray. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the tomatoes. Roast in a 400F oven for about 25-20 minutes. The idea is to concentrate the flavors of the tomato. Take out of the oven and set aside.
  4. Also, season the eggplant slices with the same salt and garlic/herbs mixture. Place slices side by side in a baking dish or tray. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the eggplant slices. Roast in the same oven where the tomatoes are at 400F for about 25-20 minutes too. Take out of the oven and set aside.
  5. And while the tomatoes and eggplants are cooking and rice is finishing, sauté the onions in a large skillet. Add a little bit of olive oil to the pan over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. The idea is to soften them by cooking them over medium heat for about 10 minutes, without browning them too much. Set aside.
  6. Take the strained tomatoes and season them with salt, pepper and garlic and herbs. Add a little drizzle of olive oil to add extra flavor. Set aside. If using marinara sauce, you don’t need to season it then.

Now that everything is basically cooked, we assemble the pastelón as if it were a lasagna…

  1. Using a 9 x 13 baking dish, place 1/3 of the rice at the bottom of the pan. Flatten as much as possible.
  3. Add a drizzle of the strained tomato sauce over the rice.
  4. Add a layer of eggplants and tomatoes using half of the quantity you have available, trying to cover the layer of rice.
  6. Add some onions on top of eggplant/tomato layer.
  8. Add a layer of shredded cheese over the onions.
  9. Repeat with a second layer of rice. Drizzle some tomato sauce. Another layer of eggplant/tomato. Another layer of onions. Another layer of cheese.
  10. Finish with a last layer of rice. Add any remaining ingredients you might still have. Don’t let anything go to waste. And top with plenty of shredded cheese.
  11. Bake in the oven covered for 20-25 minutes in a 350F oven for all the flavors to combine. Uncover for the last 10 minutes of cooking to brown the cheese on top.

Just like with lasagna, there are several steps to this pastelón, but none of them are particularly difficult. After it’s assembled all you need to do is bake to melt the cheeses inside and on top. A nice salad on the side and dinner is ready!!!

Tags: , , , , ,

Roasted Stuffed Tomatoes over Brown Rice Pasta

8 Oct

This is one of my favorite recipes nowadays… I can safely say this is what I am cooking to impress new boyfriends (yes, there is more than one…) these days. Boyfriends and girlfriends too… OK, friends overall!!!

The first time I made this recipe, or idea/concept really, was at my friend’s Melissa. I was bored, wanted to cook but not just for me, posted on FaceBook and Melissa offered her kitchen for me to cook away. FaceBook is a wonderful, wonderful thing. It connects you with friends online and offline too…

I say this is a concept or idea more than a recipe because I have done this about 5-6 times already and every time I make it differently. And every time the end result is still delicious… I am sharing with you the BEST combination of them all.  But you can certainly mix and match, omit or add any ingredient you deem appropriate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ROASTED STUFFED TOMATOES OVER BROWN RICE PASTA

4 ripe beefsteak tomatoes, preferably organic and washed well with a vegetable cleanser
3 button mushrooms, chopped
¼ onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
¼ cup breadcrumbs
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
¼ cup goat cheese or goat cheese crumbles
2 tbs flat leaf parsley, chopped
A few sprinklings of Italian Seasonings
Salt and Freshly Cracked Ground Pepper to taste
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 tbs white balsamic vinegar
1 tbs water or vegetable broth
Brown Rice pasta – fettuccini or penne… your choice
 
  1. Pre-heat oven to 425F.
  2. Cut the top off the tomatoes and carefully scoop out most of the inner flesh and seeds. Sometimes, I also cut a very small slit underneath the tomato to help is stay upright.
  3. Collect the innards of the tomatoes in a bowl were we will mix with the rest of the stuffing ingredients. Place the hollowed tomatoes in a greased baking dish. Season them with a very light sprinkle of salt, pepper and olive oil. Set aside.
  4. Chop the tomato insides in a small dice. Chop the tomato tops also. No need to waste those. Add the mushrooms, garlic, onion, breadcrumbs, parmesan, goat cheese and parsley. Season the mixture with salt, pepper, Italian seasonings and a small drizzle of olive oil. Mix well to combine.
  5. Stuff the tomatoes generously. Try not to burst them open, but create a mound of stuffing on top. Garnish with a little more grated or shredded parmesan cheese on top of each tomato. Season again the whole dish with some salt, pepper and a last drizzle of olive oil. Add the vinegar and broth to the bottom of the baking dish.
  6. Place in oven and roast for about 30 -45 minutes.
  7. When the tomatoes just have about 10 minutes left, cook the pasta according to the package directions. When the pasta is done to your liking, drain it, reserving about 1/2 cup of cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot you cooked it in.
  8. Remove the tomatoes onto a holding dish. Transfer the juice/broth in the bottom of the baking dish onto the pasta pot with the drained pasta. Mix well to combine… add a bit of pasta water if you like. Add a sprinkle of additional parmesan if you’d like.
  9. Serve pasta in plates… add one tomato per person on top of the pasta.

 

The way to go about this is that the stuffed tomato becomes, when you cut it while eating, the tomato sauce you eat the pasta with. The cheeses and mushrooms and breadcrumbs in the stuffing create this savory mixture with the tomatoes that is just spectacular.

Melissa has already requested I make this in her home again for company… Walter and David were positively impressed when they tasted it. My mom also… I am telling you, this recipe is a true hit. And a tad bit more figure-friendly than my usual impress-new boyfriend-recipe Baked Pasta with 4 Cheeses.

I have made this recipe with Roma tomatoes, large tomatoes and even those small vine-ripened tomatoes you find at Costco.  I just use 3 tomatoes per person when using either Roma or the smaller ones. 

Hope you like it too… How would you make this recipe your own???

Tags: , , , , , ,

The Shape of Foods Help our Organs?? – TOMATO

26 Sep

This is the second of a series on how there’s a belief the shape of foods help enhance the health of certain organs. We already discussed how CARROTS are beneficial for the EYES. Now is Tomatoes turn…

Tomatoes are red and their insides are divided into chambers, just like our hearts. The lycopene found in tomatoes is a serious inhibitor of heart disease. Tomatoes also contain Vitamin B6, niacin, folate and potassium, all of which help to reduce cholesterol levels and lower blood pressure.

Eating tomatoes on a regular basis can therefore help prevent heart attacks, strokes and other heart-related problems.

Tomatoes benefits can be enjoyed in both – raw or cooked preparations. Something I have learned in the last few years – DO NOT STORE YOUR TOMATOES IN THE FRIDGE!!! Not even in the heat of Puerto Rico, tomatoes need to be stored in the cold. Their flavor is greatly affected after the tomato is in contact with cold environment.

Here are a few tomato recipes to help support your heart’s health:

Easiest Baked Penne Ever!!

Tomato Bruschetta Mix

Caprese Salad

Goat Cheese Tapa

Chunky Tomato Sauce

Soy Picadillo

Sun-dried Tomato Jam

Stewed Potatoes

Tuno Antipasto

Tags: , , ,

Guacamole Agrandado

15 Aug

We’re in avocado season… and there’s no way I can eat a whole avocado in slices in one sitting. Unless… It’s converted into guacamole!!!!!

My new thing with guacamole… eating it with BBQ potato chips instead of tortilla chips!!! These are the genius ideas one comes up in serendipity – when a natural doctor tells you to stay away from corn for a whole month.

And where does the “agrandado” comes from?? Agrandado in Spanish means “supersized”, like the combos in fast foods joints. We recently went to a Mexican restaurant and we wanted a small batch of pica de gallo and there were 2 options – regular and “agrandado”. I immediately though the agrandado version was simply… more quantity. But nooooooo… Agrandado meant it has pieces of queso fresco inside.

So for my sister’s recent visit, I decided to make my guacamole even BIGGER and BETTER with pieces of queso blanco del país inside… making it a Guacamole Agrandado!!!!

GUACAMOLE AGRANDADO

1 avocado, cut into small pieces
½ large tomato, peeled and finely diced
¼ medium onion, finely diced
The juice of 1 criollo lemon or lime
A drizzle of olive oil – about 1 tbs
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/3 cup of pieces of Queso Blanco del País or Mexican Queso Fresco or a mild Feta
2 tbs of fresh parsley (optional)
  1. Mix everything in a medium sized bowl.
  2. Let it stand in the fridge for a few hours so the flavors meld together.

Tags: , , , ,

Criollo Tomato Sauce

8 Jul

This is the perfect sauce to dress a batch of soy albóndigas…

Unlike regular meatballs, these soy albóndigas are delicate and do not fare well when cooked nestled in the sauce. That’s why the sauce works best when prepared separately and spooned over right when you’re about to eat them. If not, they tend to crumble in the sauce and lose their wonderful round albóndigas shape.

CRIOLLO TOMATO SAUCE

2 cups of crushed or chopped tomatoes
1 medium sized onion, sliced thinly
1 large garlic clove, chopped
½ vegetable bouillon cube
½ tsp dried oregano or Garlic and Herb seasoning
About ¼ cup of apple cider or balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive oil
  1. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, add some olive oil and the sliced onions and cook them to get them softened, not to get any color at all.
  2. When the onions have softened a bit, add the vegetable cube, garlic clove and season with salt and pepper. Work the cube in the bottom of the pan to make it dissolve into the onions and garlic.
  3. Add the tomato puree, chopped tomatoes or whichever version you’re using… mix all well and season again with salt and pepper, the oregano or the garlic and herbs seasoning. Add the vinegar and cook the sauce covered for about 10-15 minutes.

This sauce is great with soy albóndigas, but you can also just pour it over whole grain rice or over boiled potatoes…

Tags: , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →