I know I exaggerate a lot, but I swear I have over 50 green tomatoes sitting on my counter.
Apparently when my tomato plants started to ripen, they forgot that it was supposed to happen in September, not in late October. I have been waiting since May to pull red juicy delicious Roma tomatoes from my plants. I literally had visions of myself pulling a red beauty from the vine, taking a bite out of the tomato with my feet bare in the summer grass, having to bend over to prevent the tomato juices from getting on my clothes. I kid you not, this is what I think about in my spare time – which of course, could open a whole other can of worms about the ridiculous things I think about, but we’ll save that for another time.
But no, those tomatoes just wouldn’t cut me a break. All I got from my tomato plants this year were unripe green tomatoes. Which, of course, is never a bad thing if you are a southern belle. And if you’re not a southern belle (::ahem:: me), you can at least pretend like you’re talking to Paula in the kitchen while you bake green tomatoes instead of fry them. I’m sure Paula just had a panic attack talking about me not frying something.
Which brings me to another point – have you ever even seen the movie Fried Green Tomatoes? I haven’t. But I want to watch it on Netflix tonight with a plate of green tomatoes in one hand and the lemon dill dipping sauce in the other. And then my mom is going to get mad at me for not inviting her over for unfried green tomatoes and movie watching.
The really awesome thing about this recipe is that it’s super easy. All you have to do is slice, dip, coat, and bake. And then you can feel free to burn your tongue on the 3 tomatoes you ate the second they came out of the oven. We can walk together saying fun things like “sally sells sea shells by the sea shore” with our new lisps from burning off all our taste buds.
Unfried Green Tomatoes with Lemon Dill Dipping Sauce
Makes: 20-25 slices
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Tomatoes:
- 4 green tomatoes
- 1/2 cup white rice flour (you can use any all purpose flour)
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
- 2 flax eggs
- 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp. agave nectar
Lemon Dill Dipping Sauce:
- 3 tbsp. hummus
- 2 tbsp. water
- 3/4 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp. dill
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions: Begin by prepping your flax eggs. Mix 2 tbsp. ground flax with 6 tbsp. warm water and set aside to gel for five minutes. In another bowl, mix your rice flour, bread crumbs, nutritional yeast, garlic powder and salt/pepper. Once the flax eggs have gelled, add the milk, agave, and apple cider vinegar to the eggs. You should have a bowl for the dry ingredients and a bowl for the wet. To prep your tomatoes, wash and slice them to about a 1/4 inch thickness. Dip the tomato slices in the egg/milk mixture and then coat them in the flour mixture. Once all tomatoes have been coated, place foil on a cooking sheet and cover with a wire rack. In a single layer, lay the tomato slices on the wire rack (so they get crispy and not soggy!) and bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes, flipping once halfway. Serve with the lemon dill dipping sauce.
For the dipping sauce, combine the hummus, water, lemon juice, dill, garlic powder, and salt/pepper and whisk. Enjoy!
Can I just also add I’ve never eaten a green tomato in my life? And I may or may not have never understood what the big hype about green tomatoes were? I definitely understand now. Green tomatoes are the new dark chocolate.
Okay, I laughed just typing that. Green tomatoes are not the new dark chocolate, but they’re good in a “we have our own category” category if one were to exist.
Have a good night y’all.
That felt so southern.
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Funny, my husband just asked the other day if I could make fried green tomatoes, as he had never had them! I haven’t either but told him we would find a healthier recipe for them and now you post this, perfect timing
oh my goodness, I’m immediately sending this to my “twin” (sorority thing) Amy Lee! And yes, she’s southern. She would love this! She has a healthy fried okra recipe!
Ok I’ve never fried tomatoes and I’ve never really been that into the looks of them when seeing them in restaurants but now I want to try your version. They look awesome..and they’re baked. Beautiful! You bake the tomatoes, I’ll bake the donuts, and we can trade…deal?
I’m down.
I love it
I’m definitely southern and grew up eating any “southern food” you can imagine!
Not fried??? Whaaa??? I’m sure they’re quite tasty. In fact, the only friend green tomatoes I’ve had were a little too greasy for my taste.
You have to watch Fried Green Tomatoes! It’s one of my favorite movies and books ever!
Well now I have to!
i’ve never seen fried green tomatoes either. nor have i eaten a green tomato. looking forward to trying this recipe, though. beautiful pictures!
i love fried green tomatoes! what a clever idea! and a dill lemon sauce to go with? YUM
I’ve never had fried green tomatoes but I’ve always wanted to try them. Love the movie!
I used to love that movie!! saddest start and end but really capturing throughout the entire thing.
How cool!!! I seriously want to try this
I’ve seen the movie and have always wanted to make my own ever since. I’ve had them a few times in restaurants and they’re always so greasy, I love how you baked these. Gorgeous pics
Im insanely jealous of your green tomatoes, i love green tomatoes!
I’ve never even seen green tomatoes!
I don’t think they really sell the green unripe ones in stores – straight from the garden!!
Love this recipe! I am a huge fan of green tomatoes and if I had any right now I’d make these (you can send some of yours my way if you want)
I’ve never seen the movie either!
These sound delicious!
I’ve never tasted one, but the movie is a good one!!!
Ooh intriguing – I saw green tomatoes at the farmer’s market last week, and only picked up one to put into chili chutney, but I’m so happy to see a baked version of a ‘fried’ green tomato – looks yummy!
Fried Green Tomatoes is one of my favourite books/movies ever! You must watch it!
I’ve never actually had fried green tomatoes before though.
Fried green tomatoes are so good!! I will definitely have to try this un-fried version so that I can have twice the tomato with half the lethargic fat kid feeling.
Fried Green Tomatoes is also a great, great movie – I’m pretty sure my mom and I HAVE had a fried green tomatoes eating and viewing party, I would definitely recommend getting involved with that with your new un-fried version!
Hey Chelsey!
If you put your green tomatoes in a cool dark place they’ll ripen and turn red. We keep our in the garage for about a week. We actually have some right now that are pretty red and ready to use.
This looks AWESOME– I love me some Southern food and fried green tomatoes, but I can’t say they are the healthiest. These look much better!
what a great idea, can you believe i have never had a green tomato before?? you version looks way better than fried ones
You know, I’ve NEVER had a green tomato. So crazy. I love how nuts these look! They look awesome!
I also have far too many green tomatoes out in my greenhouse – same problem, I reckon. And now I know what to do with them before it gets too cold for them to go red – thanks! (and I’ve seen the movie, and read the book – both are definitely improved with a plate of the green stuff)
I’ve never had a green tomato either! I just don’t think there’s any way they’re as amazing as dark chocolate!
We’ve had an abnormally warm November in Iowa, and I just “cleaned” the still-green tomatoes from my garden. Totally planning on making this tonight! Looks fabulous!