oven-fried green tomatoes with garlic and onion yogurt sauce

our garden is vomiting tomatoes right now and as a result i am vomiting happiness and sorry that's gross i didn't mean to get on the subject of vomiting...

what i mean is, i've been having fresh tomatoes at just about every meal these days and it's glorious. tomatoes in my breakfast salad, tomatoes and basil on toast, tomatoes shoveled into my mouth on a homemade pita that i just can't eat without feeling really really bad for peeta mellark. 

i may be dressed like it's fall, because outside the mosquitos are monsters and the air conditioning inside is blasting hard, but i've been dining like a summer queen because our garden is nailing it this year, if i do say so myself. i guess it helps to be married to a farmer.

i am a winter girl but with tomatoes, i forget about that.

my love for fried green tomatoes began four years ago at the now-closed sel de mer, in williamsburg. i wrote kind of an awkward ode to their fried green tomatoes here. (tl/dr: it was like a green tomato donut and it was perfect in every way.) but because i am such a wimp when it comes to deep frying, today i am showing you an oven fried version-- you can eat about three times as many as the fried kind before you feel all barfy. and with the amount of tomatoes coming out of my garden, i need all the help i can get eating these guys. did i mention i'm having a tomato party tonight? i don't think my guests know it yet, i should probably go warn them...

ooh and there's a sauce! it's oniony and garlicky and kind of like a lighter fresher version of french onion dip. v easy to make and if you have some sumac lying around, i recommend adding a pinch, but it's not necessary.


oven-fried green tomatoes with garlic and onion yogurt sauce

makes 4-6 servings

ingredients

4 large green tomatoes (or 6 smaller ones)

kosher salt and black pepper

3/4 c flour

1 1/2 c panko bread crumbs

1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika

2 large eggs

1/4 c buttermilk

sauce:

4 cloves garlic, smashed

1/2 purple onion, finely chopped

1/2 c plain greek yogurt

kosher salt and black pepper

clues

preheat the oven to 400f and place an oven-frying rack (or metal cooling rack) over a large baking sheet and set it aside.

cut the tomatoes into thick slices and season both sides with salt and pepper.

set up three bowls: one with the flour, one with the panko, paprika, and a pinch of salt and pepper, and one with the eggs and buttermilk (beat them to combine). coat each tomato slice in flour, and then the egg mixture, and then the panko and then place on the oven-frying rack one inch apart. spray the tops with cooking spray and then bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. let cool slightly before serving.

to make the sauce, mix together the garlic, onion, and yogurt, and then season to taste with salt and pepper.

enjoy!


-yeh!

thank you so much to edyn for sponsoring this post! these tomatoes and all of the other goodies from my garden were grown with the help of a handy new gadget called the edyn garden sensor, which is a device that sticks in your garden to relay tips and information about moisture, lighting, soil nutrition, and a whole bunch of other fun stuff to your phone. it also tells you when your plants are about to ripen! so you can know in advance when you need to start planning your own tomato party. it works in wifi, so if you're looking to check one of these puppies out, make sure your garden gets wifi or you can use a repeater. if you're a beginning gardener, a full on farmer who wants to geek out (hi, eggboy), or somewhere in between, check it out!