Tomato Egg Bake

Eggs baked in a tomato cup is an incredibly simple and delicious idea for breakfast or a light lunch, and if you've got a garden full of tomatoes ripening on the vine, it's also a great way to use some of them up. One medium to large tomato is usually a serving for most people, and it only takes about five minutes or less preparation for each tomato.

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Cut off the top of each tomato, run a knife carefully down the insides and spoon out the seeds and pith. Sprinkle the insides with grated Parmesan cheese (about a small teaspoon for each tomato) and some fresh ground black pepper. Toss the cheese and pepper about to coat the insides.

Crack one egg for each tomato in a bowl. Add one teaspoon of yogurt or milk for each egg, and any sort of spice and herb seasoning you like, and beat lightly.

Pour the egg mixture into each hollowed out tomato. Sprinkle on more Parmesan cheese and ground pepper on the top.

Bake at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the tomato, until the eggs are set and the cheese is brown.

Harira is the traditional Moroccan and Algerian soup that's used to break the fast during the holy month of Ramadan as well as served after special celebrations like weddings. But there's no reason to confine yourself to making harira for special occasions — it's a delicious and hearty dish at any time. Usually served with lamb, or occasionally beef or chicken, harira is considered to a be a meal all by itself, but vegetarians will find it satisfying alongside buttered rice or a few hard-boiled eggs, with some dates or figs on the side.

There are many regional variations on this dish, but I find this version to be particularly nice and spicy, especially with the addition of harissa as a condiment for the soup. For those of you not familiar with this classic and North African hot sauce made from dried hot chili peppers, garlic and roasted cumin seeds, I've given the recipe for harissa here.

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Although whole grain porridges are a staple breakfast food in my kitchen, I'd never considered barley a morning grain until I came across this recipe in my treasured copy of Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Café for "anooshoavoor", an apparently traditional Turkish barley porridge that's flavored with apples, apricots, honey and cardamom. It's one of the most delicious and satisfying porridges I've ever had.

Cooked in a risotto style with liquid slowly added to very low heat, the result is a creamy, sweet porridge surrounding the still chewy grains of barley. But although the preparation and instructions are so extraordinarily simple, it takes about two hours to cook so it's not a breakfast for a weekday unless you make it the night before and reheat the next morning.

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Since tomatoes are still coming up on the vine and the summer is ending in glorious, hot clear weather, this sauce seemed like a perfect and fresh way to enjoy them in a no-cook pasta sauce.

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