Tomatoes & Toast (with Tea)

One of our favorite weekend breakfast treats is Tomatoes & Toast & Tea. A quick, healthy, flavorful breakfast that fits my un-breakfast palate and pleases my kids as well. Here to inspire you are some photos from breakfast this morning. I hope Tomatoes & Toast finds it's way to your breakfast table as well:



Ingredients:
tomatoes (this photo shows Moroccan tomatoes close to beefsteak or heirloom)
Spices (parsley, red basil, lemon thyme on the block today)
Olive oil
Parmagiano cheese

Pour a TBL of oil into a skillet and let it warm as you slice your tomatoes. Put tomatoes in the skillet and lightly salt. Cover tomato slices with diced herbs (whatever herbs you have fresh). Cook tomatoes for a couple minutes until they begin to soften. Gently turn to the other side (only one turn of they become too mushy). Sprinkle remaining spices on second sides of tomatoes and gently cook a couple more minutes.

Remove from pan and place on toast points. Garnish with parmagiano and pour yourself a good cup of tea. Enjoy!




While your tomatoes are frying in the skillet, you need to do two accompanying tasks: start your toast points in the toaster and get the teapot on to steep. Right now we're enjoying Ikea's Christmas whole leaf black tea. We always use whole leaf teas in our breakfast pots (I have paper filters that you put the tea into that make a homemade teabag for your pot). The tea will sit and steep 4 minutes while the tomatoes finish up their second side and all will be finished at the same time. We strongly suggest organic honey in your tea - a healthy choice that makes a difference in the taste of your morning tea.





The final step is to serve the cooked, herbed tomato on a toast point and garnish with some parmagiano cheese. The older & sharper the better. A wonderful flavor accent to the sweet tomatoes and savory spices. This piece is served on my daughter's cookie & tea plates, a speciality piece from Boloswaviec, the polish national pottery. A sweet little girl set of pottery perfect for cookies - or breakfast tomatoes & tea.




While we lived in Germany we collected dishes from Wachtersbach (notice the pattern of my living in a country and falling in love with their pottery?) This is the Christmas collection, true Christmas red with trees in the center of the plates. The mugs come in assorted Christmas patterns and colors - we have white, blue, green and red.



Had to conclude with a photo of Angelina Cheesalina Grater, a delightful little french helper we bought while in Paris. She is named after our favorite Parisian cafe, Angelina, and the other names are self explanatory. She is a delight to use a true friend in my kitchen!