Sweet Potato & Feta Fritata

The Recipe
350g sweet potato, sliced
1/4c water
2tb shredded basil leaves
200g feta
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3c thickened cream


Grease a ~20cm x 30cm rectangular slice pan. Line the base and two long sides with baking paper. Microwave sweet potato (with the water), covered, on high, for 3 mins or until almost tender. Drain.

Arrange the sweet potato over the base of the pan. sprinkle with basil and crumbled feta. Pour over combined egg and cream.

Bake for about 25 mins or until set at 180C. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

The Results

This is one of my all-time favourite go-to foods. It doesn't come out quite like a quiche or a pie; it's more vegetable-y than that. But given sweet potato and feta are two of my favourite foods, this is something I could never, ever eat too much of. And, bonus, it's just as good cold, so you can take the left overs for lunch! That's if there are any left overs... :D

(Note for example the fact that I don't have a photo of the slice cooked O:))

Basil- Tomato Salad

SUMMER FAVORITES!

At the height of summer, when both fresh tomatoes and home-grown basil are in season, I tend to get a little wild with my favorite flavor pairing. Tomato and basil compliment each other to perfection, and they come in enough colorful varieties to please everyone.

To celebrate, I'm posting a few of my favorite tomato-basil recipes....



Basil-Tomato Salad

* 2 large, ripe, firm tomatoes (a variety meant for chopping)
* 1 cup fresh basil leaves (about 15 large leaves - I like to combine the lemon basil and purple)
* 1 green onion or 1/4 of a small sweet onion chopped
* 5 small fronds of parsley
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Chop (or tear) the first four ingredients and toss gently.

Drizzle olive oil and vinegar over salad. Toss again.

Eat!


Alternate Ending: This simple salad can be combined with bite size cuts of mozzarella cheese, spooned over garlic toast for a bruschetta, or used to garnish steak hot or cold. It will last at least one day in the fridge.

Tomato-Basil Chicken

Baked Chicken with Tomato and Basil
- enough chicken for everyone eating (2-3 breasts for my clan of 4)
- fresh basil (about 8 large leaves)
- 1/4 onion diced or 6 pearl onions halved
- 2 medium tomatoes sliced or a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes (And by now you understand why James can't copy any of my recipes. I'm an intuitive cook, not a scholar. I eyeball amounts and fiddle with recipes to no end. Really, it tastes good!)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbspn olive oil
- 1/4 cup chicken broth or water


Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Celsius
- Dice onion, cut tomato, shred basil, and crush garlic (I like a big rubber mallet for this. Lay the garlic somewhere solid, smash with the mallet, and remove peel. All done! It takes all of ten seconds and the kids are always happy to help with the smashing.)
- Put chicken in glass casserole dish or whatever you use for baking things like this
- Drop in the remaining ingredients
- Drizzle olive oil over everything
- Add some salt and pepper to the chicken if you like and then the chicken broth
- Cover the casserole dish with foil and tuck tightly (you want to catch the steam)
- Bake for 45-60 minutes or until juices run clear when chicken is cut
- Remove chicken from pan and place in broiler on high for 3-5 minutes until it turns brown and crisp
- Eat... there will be some yummy pan juices that you can either use to make rice in or sop up with some fresh bread



This is the pre-oven dish. By the time it was cooked I was too hungry for pictures. It looked delicious and tasted better. :0) You'll just have to take my word on this.

Standing Time: Less than 10 minutes
Total Cook Time: 75 minutes max
Can you make it ahead? Probably, I've never tried but I don't see any reason you couldn't toss this together and refrigerate overnight as long as it's covered. I don't think this is a good candidate for freezing.