August Challenge

A little background. I'm a planner. I like to plan. Every week I like to sit down with my cookbooks and plan what I am going to cook. Then I make my lists, organize my coupons, and off I go to the store. Unfortunately, this does not leave a lot of wiggly room for wonderful, fresh looking produce once I get there. That would require new menus, lists, coupons...you get the idea. I try using the ads to see what is on sale and in season, but that is not always a foolproof method. My challenge for this month is to go to a produce stand or farmers market, buy at least 3 items, and use them. When buying things willy-nilly like this, I tend to let things set in my fridge until they rot. But this time I will try to use them in recipes, I might add a new veggie in our salad, or different fruits for snack, but the point is to enjoy FRESH and LOCAL food.

Anything FRESH and LOCAL counts, whether it be from a roadside stand, a market, the grocery store, or your garden. Right now, we are up in our ears in tomatoes. I'll start with a great little casserole that is about as far away from Pad Thai as you can get.

Tomato Casserole
tomatoes, peeled and sliced. Yes, I said PEELED.
cheddar cheese
bread crumbs (ok, I used PANKO, can I still be a red neck?)

Spray casserole dish with cooking spray. Sprinkle a bit of bread crumbs to cover. Layer tomatoes over bottom of dish and sprinkle a handful of cheese and then a handful of bread crumbs over the tomatoes. Repeat until you run out of tomatoes or reach the top of the dish. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour. Let sit 10 minutes before serving. Boy howdy, this is good stuff, although definitely not light.