Healthier Fried Green Tomatoes

Yum! I never thought I'd like these, but was always curious to try them. I am so glad I did... they are delicious! I am including TWO different recipes here: one for people on Medifast (using Medifast Puffs as breading), and one for the rest of the world (regular ingredients). Both are very good.

You start with a fresh green tomato from your garden. Wash it and slice it (about 1/4" thick. If you make them TOO thick they won't get tender when cooking. I like them tender!)

For the breading:

Recipe A (Medifast friendly): crush up a bag of Parmesan Puffs into fine crumbs. I used a rolling pin and a Ziplock baggie to accomplish this. It only takes about half a bag, maybe a little more, to do one tomato.

Recipe B (everyone else): Mix 2 Tbsp fine breadcrumbs with 2 Tbsp corn meal. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper. If you want, you can add garlic powder or other seasonings to the crumbs as well.

Now, take a nonstick pan and get a teaspoon of olive oil heated in there. Medium-ish heat is good, maybe a little higher (you don't want to burn your food, but want it to crisp up, so play with the temp a bit).

Dip each slice of tomato into a bowl of Eggbeaters (or beaten eggs or egg whites). Then dip into the breading, coating both sides evenly. Lay the slices in the HEATED pan with the olive oil. Cook them until they are golden on the bottom (takes 4-5 minutes depending on your heat). Flip once and brown the other side. That's it, all done!

The key is to get them as tender as you like without burning, so if they are not done enough for you, you can either slice them thinner or cook them on lower heat for a longer time. You can also bake these by laying the coated slices on a cookie sheet spritzed with olive oil and spritzing the tops of the tomatoes with olive oil as well (325 for 40 minutes).

Crispy and good! One medium tomato, sliced yields approximately 1/2 cup cooked which equals one Medifast vegetable (Green) serving. The oil counts as a healthy fat. I have these for lunch with the rest of the uncrushed Puffs and subtract the veg from my dinner. I think these would be great with the Chili Puffs for breading as well.

Enjoy!