Cheese Grits and Roasted Tomatoes

I haven't posted a recipe in a good long while. Recently I was cleaning out on of those baskets where you throw everything in a fit of cleaning -- what? You don't have those around your house? -- Anyway, at the bottom of the basket was a slightly crumpled page torn from Southern Living (May 2014). I glanced over it, wondering why I'd saved it. Cheese Grits and Roasted Tomatoes. That's why I'd saved it.

I never met a grit I didn't like. Seriously, grits and cheese and cold autumn go together just fine. Of course I didn't have the exact ingredients on hand, but I had enough to make it work just fine.

Roasted Tomatoes

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a pan a 7 x 11 baking dish. Slice 1 lb. (or however many you have) Compari tomatoes in half. Arrange in pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle generously with olive oil. Bake 20-30 minutes, until tender. 

Now these are fabulous just as they are, but wait until you pair them with the cheese grits. Heaven!

Cheese Grits

1/2 cup milk
3 cups water
1 t. salt
2 T. salted butter
1 cup stoneground yellow grits
2 oz. Laughing Cow cheese (I used the light, but any would work)
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I use the Mexican blend)
salt and pepper to taste

Bring milk through butter to a boil in a medium sized saucepan over medium high heat. Stir in grits, reduce heat to medium low, and cover pan. Simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 to 20 minutes or until grits are tender. Fold in both cheeses until melted. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Top with tomatoes and serve.

So yummy! So filling! So comforting!

linking up with Made by You Monday

Easy Cheesy Grits

I'm a sucker for grits. I guess it's part of being a southern girl, but I just love grits!

Cheesy grits make such a great side dish with pork and beef. Lately I'm been doing a quick and easy version using whatever Artisan cheeses I find out our local farmers' market.

Here's the basic recipe I've been using -- 

Bring 3 cups water and 1/4 tsp. sea salt to a boil. Add 1 cup grits (I like Bob's Red Mill yellow corn grits). Reduce heat to low and stir. Gook slowly for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in 2 Tbs. butter and 1 cup freshly grated cheese and a little coarse ground pepper. Cover and let stand for a couple of minutes. Stir just before serving. Makes 4 generous servings.

Happy eating!

linking up with Made by You Monday

Parmesan Grits

Continuing with the menu from last week, today's recipe is Parmesan Grits. For years and years I used to make Garlic Cheese Grits, a baked grits casserole that used a tube of Kraft Garlic Cheese. Several years ago, Kraft discontinued the product, and people began scrambling to recreate the recipe without that primary ingredient. This led to much grits experimentation in our house. We've made grits with a variety of artisan cheeses with great success, but recently I was looking for a quick but tasty side dish and ran across an easy looking one in Glorious Grits. Of course it called for Asiago cheese which I didn't have, but suggested Parmesan as an alternative. So with a few alterations I now have a new favorite grits side dish that's quick, easy, and I always have the ingredients on hand.

4 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 cup uncooked, stone-ground grits

1/4 cup butter

2 oz. Parmesan cheese

Bring broth and garlic salt to a boil. Gradually whisk in grits. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-25 minutes (to desired thickness) stirring often. Stir in butter and cheese; add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately. Serves 4-6.

Easy peasy -- and so yummy!

Only photo I got, before it was devoured.

Happy eating!

linking up with Made by You Monday

Made by You Monday -- Roasted Veggies and Cheesy Grits

Summer is in full swing, which means lots of fresh veggies from the farmer's market.

The other night I decided it was time to cull through some of those veggies and use the ones that might be getting a little sketchy. I decided to roast a big pan of them and make a big pot of cheesy grits. It was quite lovely.

Here's what I did:

First, I chopped a bunch of veggies (Vidalia onion, broccoli, squash, zucchini, Campari tomatoes, garlic) and tossed it all with a liberal dose of olive oil, coarse ground black pepper, and garlic salt. I roasted it at 400* for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, I heated 2 cups organic chicken broth, 2 cups cool water, and 1 cup fresh milled grits in a pot on the stove. I brought it to a boil and then turned it down to medium low. I let them cook, stirring them each time I wandered by the stove. 

While all that was cooking, I grated the remaining chunks of artisan cheese (I think it was Paprika Jack). Once the grits were close to being done (about 20 minutes, I think) I stirred in the cheese to melt.

I let everything cook another 10 minutes or so and served it up in bowls

with a side of fresh sliced strawberries.

A delightful summer supper.

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