Tomatoes 3 ways, part 2

This is one of Brenan's favorite things that I make. ever. We can literally eat an entire bowl in one sitting.

Pico de Gallo

5 tomatoes, seeded, diced
1 bell pepper, seeded, diced
1/4 - 1/2 (depending on size) white onion, diced
1 jalapeno seeded, de-veined, diced (if you like heat, keep in the seeds/veins)
Juice of 1/2 - 1 lime, depending on size, juiciness, and preference
2 Tablespoons salt  (sounds like a lot? Not really. It brings out all of the flavors and enhances everything magnificently)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
cilantro (optional, we don't use it...)

Chop everything, mix, and enjoy! I recommend adding the onions last so you don't cry. Also, add half of your salt and lime juice,  then do a taste test. It is always easier to add more, but if you overdo it you're stuck with a strong pico.

Tomatoes three ways: Part 1

Recently my mom gave me a ton of tomatoes, like more than one person could use in a month...So, I decided to be creative and get cooking so that they didn't go bad, plus it's good practice since I have tomato plants growing in my garden.

Fresh pasta sauce

Ingredients
8-9 vine ripened tomatoes (or slicing tomatoes)
3 TBS olive oil
2 TBS minced garlic
1 TBS Italian seasoning
2 TBS salt
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 tsp pepper
**optional** basil and red pepper flakes

Roughly chop up your tomatoes. I threw out most of the "guts" i.e. seeds and insides, but I reserved some just in case my sauce got too dry.

 

The guts

Put your tomatoes in a pot on medium heat (with your olive oil) to cook them down. As they cook down the tomatoes will peel themselves and you can pick out the skins if you don't like them. Add all of your seasonings and continue to let the tomatoes render out, about 20 min.

After 20 min turn your heat down to lo/simmer and if your tomatoes start to get too dry, add in some of the guts that you didn't throw out. After about 15 more minutes, take out 2/3 of your tomatoes and puree them in a food processor/blender/magic bullet. I did a rough puree, dumped 1/2 back in, then finely pureed the rest. I like texture in my sauce, but if you do not, then puree all of the tomatoes until fine.

This was enough sauce to cover about 1/2 lb of cooked pasta, to which I also added 2 chicken breasts.

Chicken Breast Secret

 Heat your oven to 350. In a pan on the stove (medium heat) add a little oil before adding your chicken breasts and then sear your chicken for about 2 min on each side, giving them a nice golden brown color. Transfer them to your oven for about 10-15 min (depending on their thickness) and you have a perfect chicken breast that didn't dry out on the stove!