Pomodoro Salad & Simmered Italian Rice

These are 2 new side dishes we made with dinner last night.  They were delicious!  I paired them with some baked Salmon and was surprised how well it went together.  I am always looking for new side dishes, especially since my son will not eat mac & cheese or mashed/baked potatoes.  The Pomodoro salad
recipe comes form a wonderful cooking show I DVR everyday called "Mad Hungry" on the Hallmark channel.  The chef, Lucinda Scala Quinn has some great recipes.  Look her up on the web or buy her cookbook of the same name, it is a good addition to my library.  The rice recipe came from a Swanson chicken broth recipe ad in a magazine that my mom tore out and brought to me.

Pomodoro Salad

4 fresh, ripe tomatoes
1 Tsp coarse salt
1 small red onion sliced thinly
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp fresh basil leaves, torn
1/2 tsp fresh thyme or oregano
3 Tbsp olive oil

1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil.   Drop the tomatoes in and boil for 10-15 seconds
2. Remove and immediately put the tomatoes in a bowl of ice water, this will loosen the skins for easy removal.
3. Remove the skin from the tomatoes and slice into thin wedges.
4. Place in a medium size bowl and add salt and mix
5. Add onion, parsley, garlic, basil, thyme or oregano and olive oil
6. Stir until well combined
7. Chill for at least 30 minutes prior to serving.

Simmered Italian Rice

1 3/4 cups Chicken broth

1 tsp Italian seasoning

3/4 cups uncooked long grain white rice (we used brown rice)

1 cup fresh chopped spinach

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1. Heat broth and Italian seasoning to a boil
2. Stir in rice and spinach, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20 min or until rice is tender.
3. Since we used brown rice it took longer and we did have to add more broth.
4. Once rice was cooked we boiled the excess liquid off.
5. Add parmesan and stir until blended