Saturday, May 28, 2011

Stuffed Tomato Appetizers/Side Dish

Hey everyone-Happy Memorial Day Weekend! I wanted to share a couple super easy appetizer or side dish ideas great for the Bar-B-Que or get together. I've seen appetizer recipes calling for scooped out cherry tomatoes... they were about the size of marbles at the store today so I opted for Roma tomatoes. I'll try the cherry tomatoes if they grow to be a good size in the garden.
Salad Stuffed Tomatoes
-Homemade or store bought salad of your choice: chicken, turkey, tuna, ham, etc.
-Garnish with chives, olives or a slice of pickle (maybe a hot pepper if you know your crowd:@).
-Today I made Salmon Salad (this amount stuffed 6 half Roma tomatoes):
  • Cut tomatoes in half and take a thin slice off each end so they stand up like a cup. Clean out the seeds, a melon baller works well. Sprinkle with a little salt and turn upside down on paper towels to drain as you mix the salad.
  • 1 (3oz) pouch of salmon, I would try to squeeze a little liquid out of it the next time
  • 1 Tblsp each of finely diced onion, celery and bell pepper-red or green
  • Up to 2 Tblsp mayonnaise, start with 1 Tblsp, add more till you like it
  • 1/4 tsp Seasoned salt, I use Lawry's Cracked Black Pepper
  • 1/8 tsp dried dill
  • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
If using smaller tomatoes I would make sure the meat/fish is cut up into smaller pieces. Try putting the salad into an icing bag or strong sandwich bag and cutting off the tip. Simply pipe it into the tomato.
I would stuff the tomatoes as close to the time of the party as possible.

Note:
You can use hot or sweet jarred cherry peppers in addition to the tomatoes for stuffing any of the salads mentioned above. They are very good. Cut the tops off, clean out the insides and turn upside down to drain. I like to wrap ham around a cube of cheese (cheddar, American, Swiss, etc.) and stuff peppers with that too, it's a nice no-mayo alternative.
Have a happy day!
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