ArcaMax

When you grow a garden, I know what it’s like when the tomatoes start coming in heavy and you have to figure out what to do with them. My mother used to can stewed tomatoes. It took her one long weekend, but we had enough for the whole winter.

I had an even worse problem than tomatoes one year with zucchini. When those things ripen, they start taking over the yard! They can get the size of footballs in no time flat. That summer lead me to design a recipe for zucchini lasagna. This was back in the late 70s before zucchini lasagna became a “thing.” I made zucchini lasagna for my family, my friends or even anyone at the office who would take a casserole home.

Now that I live in the mid-South, I am trying to learn more and more about the cooking here. On the surface, it looks like it’s all biscuits and chicken. I do have to admit they make better fried chicken in these parts than I have had anywhere else in the country! Juicy on the inside and super crispy on the outside.

But what else do they eat besides biscuits, chicken, collard greens and okra? (I’m not really a fan other either of those last two. Collard greens are too earthy for my taste-buds and okra tastes like a glue mass to me.)

I have discovered I love fried green tomatoes and just recently I came across tomato pie...

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Southern Tomato Pie

Servings: Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 prebaked pie shell. I used this for convenience and it only has 16 grams of carbs for one slice (6 portions) so it’s doable on a low carb diet. You want to be very low carb, make this almond flour pie crust.
4 – 6 tomatoes cut into quarter-inch slices. I do not bother to peel them. The skin melts right in the pie
1 Tbl of butter
½ cup of onion or leeks
1/2 tsp of powdered garlic (or to taste)
10 fresh basil leaves sliced thinly. You’re shooting for a quarter cup.
1 cup of grated mozzarella, divided
1 cup of grated cheddar (when you review different recipes not everyone suggests cheddar, but I thought it gave it more color and flavor
2/3 cup of mayonnaise (In the South, Duke’s mayo is popular)

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