tomato pie and sweet potatoes with rosemary

Pardon the long delay between posts - somehow I wrenched my back on Thursday, and it's been, well, a wee bit uncomfortable to sit at the computer. I pray tomorrow the orthopedist can figure out what went wrong and wave her magic wand. I wouldn't say I'm wussy about pain, but these last few days have been a challenge. (UNDERSTATEMENT)

This morning, I celebrated being able to stand by making a lovely tomato pie with spinach and basil for brunch, along with some sauteed sweet potatoes with sweet onions, bacon (optional), and fresh rosemary . Call it a getting-to-the-end-of-fresh-herb-season celebration! I know fresh herbs are available pretty much year round now in the supermarkets - but I swear they taste five times better straight out of the herb garden, don't they?

I suppose you could call the pie a quiche, but it's 1) crustless, and 2) has half the cheese I would put in a quiche, so voila! Tomato pie it is.

I used a 12" metal tart pan for this, but you could use a glass pie plate if you don't have a large tart pan.

To make:

Preheat oven to 330F. ( 325 is a little low for my oven, and 350 too high)

Butter or grease the pie pan you're using.

1 large tomato, sliced

1/2 large sweet onion, sliced

1 cup fresh spinach, destemmed and very thinly sliced

1/2 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced

1 cup grated sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese - I use Cabot.

1/2 cup heavy cream

6 extra large eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

salt and pepper to taste

Arrange the onion and tomato slices in the bottom of the pie pan.

Mix the eggs, milk, cream and salt and pepper together well.

Add the cheddar, spinach , and basil in and mix well, again.

Pour into the pie pan and bake for around 50 minutes, or until the mixture is slightly puffed and firm in the very center.

Remove pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes before slicing.

Sweet Potatoes with rosemary, onion, and bacon

2 T. olive oil

1 T. unsalted butter (optional)

4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into uniform chunks.

2 T. fresh rosemary leaves

1/2 sweet onion, large dice

salt and pepper

1/2 cup cooked and crumbled bacon

Heat the oil and optional butter in a skillet. Add the sweet potatoes, onion, rosemary, bacon, and salt and pepper and cook over medium heat for ten minutes.

Turn heat to low, cover, and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender.

Serve and enjoy!