Simple Sides: Baked Green Tomatoes

It was not a very good year for tomatoes in Michigan.  There was too much rain and we didn't have enough consistently warm, dry weather to get a good supply of red ripe tomatoes.  It didn't help that we planted ours so late, either.  

Anyway, so here we are in October with a lot of beautiful green tomatoes.  Yes, we can make green tomato salsa and chutney but what's the easiest thing to do with green tomatoes?  Fry them!  And what's even easier and healthier than frying them?  Baking them!  After a few different attempts Brian and I finally found a good method that gets that crispy with just a hint of fried goodness at the end.  (Without any actual frying involved.)

And since you aren't frying the tomatoes, you don't have to dress up as Kathy Bates or Jessica Tandy to enjoy them.

Baked green tomatoes with mushroom, onion, and pepper tofu scramble

Baked Green Tomatoes
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

2 tsp. Ener-G egg replacer
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup panko (Japanese-style breadcrumbs)
salt and pepper, to taste

4 medium-sized green tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices

Olive oil spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together Ener-G and water.

3. In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, panko, salt, and pepper.  

4. Dip the tomato slices into the Ener-G mix, then into the cornmeal mix, coating both sides evenly.  Arrange on a single layer on prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 40 minutes.

5. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and set the oven to a low BROIL.  Spray the tops of the tomatoes with a light coating of olive oil spray.  Return to the oven for 4 minutes.

6. Turn the oven up to high BROIL for 1 minute.  Watch the tomatoes closely and remove if starting to brown early.  Serve immediately.

What do you like to do with green tomatoes?