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Slow Roasted Tomatoes on Ricotta Toast

Chelsea Harrison3 Comments
Slow Roasted Tomatoes on Ricotta Toast

TOMATOES! I know it is a little early for a tomato post, but down here in the south we are already starting to see 90 degree weather.  And with that comes the first tomatoes of the season. This recipe is my absolute favorite thing to do with tomatoes. Slow roasting the tomatoes concentrates the flavor making them extra sweet and delicious. If I had to pick my last meal before I die, it would probably be this (maybe with an artichoke on the side?).

With a simple recipe like this one, the quality of your ingredients is everything. I walked down to the Italian market by my house and bought a fresh loaf of bread and some fresh ricotta. If you haven't had really good ricotta, you are missing out. The store bought stuff can't compare. And making your own ricotta is supposed to be quite easy, although I've yet to try it.  I know, I know. I'll try it soon. 

Slow Roasted Tomatoes on Ricotta Toast

Ingredients:

1 loaf of crusty bread, I used ciabatta 

Whole milk ricotta cheese

1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 tsp olive oil

Salt and Pepper 

Preheat oven to 240 degrees. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half lengthwise and place face up on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with coconut oil and sprinkle just a pinch of salt over them.  Bake for about 2 hours (sometimes when I'm impatient I only do an hour, but they are better if you give them longer to cook - play with the timing to find what you like best).  

Slice bread and brush with coconut oil, ghee, or butter.  Lightly crisp the bread in a skillet over medium heat (about 2 minutes per side).  Spread about two tablespoons of ricotta on each slice and top with cooked tomatoes.  Finish with a drizzle of olive oil (optional) and cracked pepper.

I'm thinking about adding a new page to the site with more about The Naked Fig Lifestyle, home, design, and recommendations on how to live a more wellness-minded life to the site. Let me know in the comments if that is something you are interested in or not.

Chelsea Harrison5 Comments

Summer Corn Salad

Whoa.  Summer is coming to a close and I haven't even shared one of my favorite summer dishes.  One reason I haven't posted this is that I've been distracted by weather.  I'll have plenty of time to work on the site when it's cold outside and I'm trapped indoors.  Right? But another reason is this nagging idea of perfection.  Sometimes I fall into a spiral of thinking that I should wait until I have higher quality photos, create more complex recipes, or find some other excuse not to post a recipe.  And what happens when I think like that is nothing.  I stop creating and I stop sharing.  It's time to overcome that idea of perfection and share with you all a recipe that is not elegant and complex, but simple and beautiful.  And the pictures may be low quality iPhone shots, but the important thing is to keep creating, keep sharing, and stop being so hard on myself.  I feel better already.

This recipe is incredibly simple to make, yet crazy delicious.  Whenever I make this, people ask for the recipe or beg me to make it again.  And while it's still summer, I am trying to take advantage of eating these delicious seasonal foods while I can.

Chelsea Harrison5 Comments
Summer Corn Salad
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One Crust Two Ways! Strawberry Basil Tarts + Tomato Ricotta Tart

Today is a two-for-one! Using this one crust recipe you can decide to make sweet Strawberry Basil Tarts or a savory Tomato Ricotta Tart.  Or both!  And if you are gluten-sensitive, this is your lucky day.  Both delicious options are gluten-free.

As you may have noticed by now, I like to find ways to swap out white flour for more nourishing foods and this particular swap adds tons of flavor to the tarts.  The magic behind the recipe is the almond meal crust.  Because almonds are high in fat, they create a rich, buttery tasting crust and a more complex flavor than white flour.

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One Crust Two Ways! Strawberry Basil Tarts + Tomato Ricotta Tart
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Tomato Basil Farro with Summer Vegetable Stack & Pesto Drizzle

Last year at the Naked Fig Dinner Party I made this Tomato Basil Farro and topped it with a Summer Vegetable Stack and Fresh Pesto Sauce. I meant to share the recipe with you then, but summer came to an end and the produce was no longer available. So before another summer fades away, I want to share this simple and delicious recipe. It is so easy to make, but the presentation will make people think you worked all day on it. And it is vegan too!

Chelsea Harrison3 Comments
Tomato Basil Farro with Summer Vegetable Stack & Pesto Drizzle
Chelsea Harrison4 Comments

Sugar Snap Pea Salad with Mint & Ricotta Salata

When you plan a wedding in Atlanta on the eve of the Summer Solstice, you know one thing: it will definitely be hot.  Despite the nearly 100 degree heat, I decided to have a dinner outside the night before the wedding.  We asked a few people to bring dishes and had an intimate potluck style dinner on the porch of a glass treehouse.  As hot as it was, salads were definitely the perfect food.  So I recreated a sugar snap pea salad from the dinner to share with you.  With mint and lemon, this refreshing salad is the perfect thing to eat when it is too hot to turn on the oven.

Chelsea Harrison4 Comments
Sugar Snap Pea Salad with Mint & Ricotta Salata
Chelsea Harrison3 Comments

Banana Birthday Cake with Cream Cheese and Chocolate Frosting

My best friend Emily of Whisk and Whittle makes this amazing cake with caramelized bananas and Nutella.  If you are in the mood for all the butter, flour, and sugar (which sometimes I am!), her cake is definitely the winner.  But last week I was in the mood for that cake, but I wanted a healthier version. I decided to adapt the recipe from my Maple Pecan Banana Muffins to make a healthy gluten-free/refined sugar-free version. And while it is a different cake experience completely, it turned out great!

Chelsea Harrison3 Comments
Banana Birthday Cake with Cream Cheese and Chocolate Frosting