Ok. There are a couple of things I have to say here before getting into the actual recipe. I'm not exactly a big fan of Paula Deen. I don't know if it's her voice, her use of copious amounts of fat in her dishes, or the insipid catch phrase she uses at the end of each show, "best dishes from my house to yours," but I can't watch too much of her. This brings me to the number of reasons for my selection of one of her recipes for my weekly attempt.
Firstly, I was tired. It was hot here in Southern California (almost 100) and I had just gotten back from a 6 mile walk. I wasn't in the mood to cook anything. It's also rent paying week. That wonderful week where my latest paycheck goes toward putting a roof over my head. I wanted to use the stuff that I already had as opposed to going grocery shopping where I would inevitably purchase more than I came in for, yet again. That brings me to the last reason. All the great grilling or brunch recipes or just plain things I wanted to cook are being saved for the weekend. My friend Valerie is coming up and we are working on a special Labor Day menu for the blog.
With all that being said, I am willing to suffer through Paula's show to get this recipe which I bring to you today: Marinated Tomatoes.
This recipe was perfect for what I wanted last night. I had just gone for a walk in the blistering heat and wanted something light and cool to eat. The ingredients were easy to assemble, no cooking required, mere whisking is all this one takes. There was quite a bit of oil in the recipe. I wouldn't recommend eating the tomatoes by themselves. I put them on top of some mixed greens along with some left over peas and white beans. I used them like a dressing with big heaps of tomato. It was quite tasty.
I give this recipe an 8 out of 10. It gets a high score because of it's versatility. You could even use the tomatoes a sort of a Southern style bruschetta if you put the mixture on top of toasted bread. Hmmm.... Maybe I'll try that tonight with the left overs.