Honeyed Words: Grilled Tomatoes with Cornbread Stuffing Prompt Green Thumb

Grilled Tomatoes with Cornbread Stuffing Prompt Green Thumb · 26 March 2007

Picture of a stuff tomato

I made the cornbread-stuffed tomatoes last month. The stand out feature in these little gems is no doubt the abundance of fresh basil and garlic. In the two weeks following my tomato recipe, I cooked up two other dishes that called for fresh herbs.

I then realized that I had spent about $7 in less than a month solely on herbs, and that the majority of them were eventually thrown away because they went bad before I could use them up.

So, I asked for herb seeds for my birthday and, (as sometimes happens) I got what I asked for. Since then, planting the herbs has been on my never ending “to do” list, along with other such fun activities like “order yearly credit report” and “finish taxes.”

After spending a decent chunk of last week looking up information on the climate change issue, I decided to stop procrastinating. It was my turn to do my part for the planet by planting the seeds and adding some more carbon-dioxide-sucking life to my city.

Herb Packages, Pre-Planting

Picture of packages of herb seeds

I’m not exactly the green thumb type. My mom is a great gardener, but I stick with things that are low maintenance or supposed to die at the end of the season. Planting the seeds tonight, I felt a bit like wishing them a safe journey, or perhaps telling them to "live long and prosper". Being a plant under my care is an existence fraught with danger. I’ll know in a few weeks whether they’ll sprout or not. Here’s to hoping I don’t kill them.

Follow up to my climate change musings: Just when I thought that I had done my background research on the global warming issue, I got a link in my box regarding a vocal site on the side of “human activity is not significantly affecting climate change.” There are some interesting arguments brought up, at Britain’s Chanel 4 which has information about a documentary that summarizes the arguments.

For us individuals and our personal responsibility, I’m still on the side of taking low cost action that minimizes our influence on the global climate. Just like you wouldn’t leave the water running all day because you can, I believe we shouldn’t willingly pollute just because it may not have a large effect on climate change.

Grilled Tomatoes with Cornbread Stuffing:

Adapted from Jump! magazine from William and Mary college

4 medium, ripe tomatoes
½ cup plus 2 tsp parmesan cheese
¼ cup capers, drained
2 ½ cups prepared, plain cornbread
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp white wine, chicken broth, or vegetable broth
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
3 tsp fresh basil, chopped

I halved the original recipe on a “cooking for two” and somewhat neglected to half the measurements for the basil and the garlic. While I don’t think it was the original intent of the recipe to be a garlic packed, bowl-you-over and grab the nearest toothbrush experience, I liked the results. Without the extra herbs, I think this would have been a “safe” comfort food, good for serving with a bowl of soup on a rainy night. With the extra herbs, it’s an entrée in it’s own right.

In the ingredient list I included above, I’ve listed the increased measurements. To reduce the herb punch, half the amounts listed.

Despite my best intentions, I did not use homemade cornbread. I picked up a prepared pan from Albertson’s. Their cornbread is one of the most moist I’ve tasted. If using a more traditional dry cornbread, you may need to use more tomato pulp than I’ve indicated.

Method:

Preheat the over to 350°.

Place the tomatoes on their bases and cut the top 20% off each tomato, making the remaining 80% a bowl-like shape.

Scoop out the tomato pulp with a spoon (or knife as needed) being careful not to pierce the skin. Reserve pulp in a small bowl.

Combine prepared stuffing, olive oil, wine, ½ cup parmesan cheese, capers, garlic, and basil in a medium bowl. Mix in a small amount (less than ¼ cup) of tomato pulp to the mixture, just enough to moisten the cornbread and make all ingredients adhere to each other.

Scoop the mixture into the tomato shells, overfilling them to mound the mixture above the tops.

Sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese on top.

Bake covered in a glass pan 15 to 20 minutes or until tomatoes are soft.

Serve warm.

Basil, Climate Change, Cornbread, Garlic, Homegrown Herbs, Tomatoes, Vegetarian