Healthier Southern Fried Green Tomatoes

Is it me or is it Southern in here? Right after BBQ lentils and kale I bring you a healthy (really, really good) rendition of fried green tomatoes. This is an easy recipe with lots of flavor impact, and of course, it's perfect for football season. And I could use easy right about now. Yesterday I spent the day in Baltimore at Natural Products Expo East, picking through the innovative-OMG-products and the seriously-WTF-products. I'll share a recap later and fill you in on big healthy trends I'm seeing.

But first, we eat. Always, right?

Let me start off by saying this recipe was bred out of necessity. Back in the spring (our first spring in the new house), husband and I were feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed about our first garden. We knew we had to start slow since the renovations continue and the back yard was in the midst of a major re-do. But we also knew tomatoes were easy to grow and we can both live off of tomato sandwiches and never be sick of them. So 6 'Celebrity' variety tomato plants went into the ground.... under a black walnut tree....which kills anything planted under it (Seriously, look it up. Juglone is the toxin it releases. Awesome). All summer I've waited for something  to grow and a few did but never ripened. And here we are, with a pathetic few, green tomatoes. Lesson learned. Black Walnut trees= death to plants.

Healthier Fried Green Tomatoes

The Basic Ratio...serves as many people as you have tomatoes

///Ingredients///

• Small, green tomatoes
• Brown rice flour
• Egg
• Breadcrumbs (I use italian) 
• Canola oil
• Paprika

///Directions/// 

Slice tomatoes into rounds about 1/4 inch thick. Dip into brown rice flour and toss to cover. Dip in egg wash and then the breadcrumbs. Lay on a Silpat covered baking sheet. When your tomatoes are breaded, drizzle lightly with canola oil. Bake at 350 until golden brown and crisp. This really depends on how thick you ended up slicing and how true your oven is to temp. Shake a dash of paprika over the top and serve.

My favorite part about this recipe is how the inner tomato basically becomes jelly. It's a little tart but works perfectly with a breaded coating. The paprika adds a hint of spice and color. Don't bother dipping them in anything! They're like vegetable Gushers as appetizers.