Bright Blue Sky: Baked Tomato Special

Wow what a hiatus! I moved to DC from Boston in September 2013. At the time I was so overwhelmed by my move, my new job, and my new city that I just did not have the time to continue my blog. Finally though, after a year and a half (almost 2 years, wow!) of living in this wonderful city, I'm ready to begin again. I have had so many food and travel adventures since my move and I can't wait to share with all of you!

First up- a recipe I've been loving lately. I call this my baked tomato special. This is the perfect recipe to make after a long day of work- it doesn't require many ingredients, it's fast, it's easy to prepare, and it's an inexpensive meal.

Quinoa
This will be the base of the recipe. I buy quinoa in bulk from the Whole Foods grain bins. It's actually much cheaper than buying quinoa from a pre-packaged bag.
-Quinoa is made 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water
-Pour ingredients into a pot and simmer until all the water is absorbed
-This usually takes 20 minutes
-When finished turn off heat and drizzle in olive oil and parmesan cheese (I use 1/4 cup of cheese)

Tomato
While the quinoa is cooking start working on your tomato, it will also need 20 minutes
-Preheat your oven (or toaster oven) to 400 degrees
-Cut your tomato in half
-With your tomato halves face up, sprinkle whole wheat bread crumbs, olive oil, salt and pepper
-Set your timer for 20 minutes

Seriously it's that easy! It's a grilled cheese with tomato soup rendition that tastes heavenly.

I use a toaster oven...