ARIES: Culinary Edition
Reinventing a Classic
“Tomato Manchego Melt: Elevate Your Eggs”
Article, Photos + Recipe by Culinary Wellness Coach Candy Lesher
Read time: 4+ minutes plus recipe
If you know an Aries who is true to their sign—you're blessed. They're confident, passionate, and community minded, while being uncomplicated and direct. Just the kind of person who knows how to get things done while avoiding exhaustive details or unnecessary discussions.
If I had to classify my ‘Top 5’ go-to (healthy) recipes as a zodiac sign … Aries would undoubtedly be my descriptive choice.
A healthier version of eggs Benedict, this month’s recipe is my go-to fav for an all-around tasty, nutritionally sound meal that can be prepared start-to-finish in only 20 minutes. Aside from making a great breakfast it's just as appealing for a lunch, dinner, or a late-night after-concert pick-me-up.
Building a Better Benedict
For fans of the air fryer (or toaster oven devotees), this preparation will further solidify your love for those small appliances.
Heirloom tomatoes (preferred … but a generous handful of cherry tomatoes will substitute well) are split, drizzled with EVOO, sprinkled with salt, then roasted on high heat.
When bubbly, they're amplified with your choice of flavorings, from a splash of balsamic to a spoonful of chimichurri before adding a favorite cheese.
Though I love Manchego, sometimes I’ll sub in Romano, Parmesan, or Asiago. When the fridge has been in a bare-bones state, I’ve even used a slice of provolone or Havarti.
Then back into the air fryer (or toaster oven) on high for 2-3 minutes while you fry up an egg, and VOILA! Once crowned with that perfectly cooked egg, you have an incredible, nutritious meal.
Do I ever gild the lily? Of course! The aforementioned accents of balsamic, EVOO, or chimichurri are indeed decadent. But when I'm feeling sassy …
I'll add a splash of Cholula chipotle or verde hot sauce.
And yes, when feeding die-hard carnivores, I've tucked in paper-thin slices of salty prosciutto or crumblings of crispy cooked sausage or bacon before capping with the egg.
Still, I rarely find meat is needed, and often go the opposite direction with a green garland of opulent garlic and EVOO-wilted spinach, or a slathering of caramelized onions. So yummy!
Insider Tips …
Flavor and ease of preparation alone make this recipe a worthy effort. But why stop there? Here’s some healthy food science you may not be aware of:
By first cooking the tomato, you are effectively upping the nutritional bioavailability of the red carotenoid: lycopene.
bioavailability = a subcategory of absorption; the proportion of a substance that reaches systemic circulation in the body (the loop from the left side of your heart, through your body, and back into the right side of your heart).
Though it's an important nutrient for all, lycopene is especially crucial for men, as ongoing studies show how this crucial component supports reproductive health AND helps lower the incidence of numerous types of cancer.
Tomato Manchego Melt Recipe
Though I admit to having a fair bit of prejudice when it comes to offering an uncomplicated, straightforward, Aires-inspired recipe—my vote goes to this Tomato Manchego Melt. It's the pinnacle of uncomplicated preparation, flavor, and nutrition. And despite the rising cost of eggs, it's still an inexpensive offering!
Main Ingredients …
1 large Heirloom tomato (or a large handful of cherry tomatoes), halved
2 teaspoons Extra Virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
4 Tablespoons grated Manchego (or comparable cheese)
2 eggs, fried, poached or baked
Sauce Options …
EVOO, chimichurri sauce, various hot sauces or salsa, balsamic
Filling Options …
Cooked and crumbled bacon, sausage, sauteed spinach, caramelized onions, olive tapenade, chopped marinated artichokes, avocado
Method …
1. If needed, slice a paper-thin sliver off the bottom of each tomato half to keep it flat on the baking sheet. With the center cut side up, sprinkle salt and pepper and drizzle each half with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil.
2. Roast in a 400-degree air fryer or broil 8-10 minutes, depending on the size of the tomato, just until bubbly and a few brown spots appear on the edges. Top with the cheese and place back in the oven for 2 minutes.
3. While tomatoes are in their final cooking stage, prepare your eggs. When tomatoes are done, top with any additional ingredients (sauces or other add-ons), then crown with your cooked egg.
For company-worth presentations, fan the plate with avocado slices and finish with a finely chopped garnish of green onions or chives!
~ Candy
As a Culinary Wellness Coach, Candy Lesher doesn't simply sit on the sidelines and coach, she's right in the game with her clients. As a chef she openly admits weight is an occupational health hazard, so she engages in that daily battle also. As a Stage III cancer survivor, she knows the importance of feeding your body the nutrients it needs to fight off illness—and function at its very best.
Connect with Candy on LinkedIn, visit her website at YourKitchenRX.com, or see her new Insta page: The Agoge Kitchen as she explores the route to recipe creation.
Cookbooks: Non-Fiction for Foodies
Continuing the celebration of palate-pleasing vegetarian recipes, Candy recommends the delicious follow-up to her suggestion from last month’s Pisces Edition of Dharma Direction with “The Vegetarian Epicure Book Two” by Anna Thomas stocked with 325 glorious new recipes and fresh approaches to preparing fruits and vegetables.
Moving Mountains … Quotes from the Rams
ARIES season: March 21 - April 19
“You cannot define a person on just one thing. You can’t just forget all these wonderful and good things that a person has done because one thing didn’t come off the way you thought it should come off.” ~ Aretha Franklin (March 25, 1942 - August 16, 2018)
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, the “Queen of Soul” amassed an impressive 73 entries on the US Billboard Hot 100 list. The gospel singer turned chart-topping diva also delivered 20 number-one R&B singles. In 1987, getting the R-E-S-P-E-C-T she’d worked so hard for, Aretha Franklin (at the age of 45) became the first female artist inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In 2019, the Pulitzer Prize jury posthumously awarded Franklin a special citation "for her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades.”
“Being still and doing nothing are two completely different things.” ~ Jackie Chan
On April 7, 1954, Chan Kong-sang was born in British Hong Kong; his parents were political refugees from the Chinese Civil War. “Jackie” is a nickname given to him while he lived in Australia during the early 70s. His list of accolades includes martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and most notoriously: slapstick stuntman. Chan’s comedic timing and acrobatic fighting style have been delighting audiences for decades. Minor roles in a few Bruce Lee films helped propel Chan’s early career while his dedication to the craft of acting and martial arts led Jackie Chan to win an Honorary Academy Award in 2016 for his “extraordinary achievements” in film.
“Put it before them briefly, so they will read it. Clearly so they will appreciate it. Picturesquely so they will remember it. And, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.” ~ Joseph Pulitzer (April 10, 1847 - October 29, 1911)
Pulitzer József was born in the Kingdom of Hungary. He arrived in Boston harbor in 1864, at the age of 17—after being recruited in Germany to fight for the Union in the American Civil War. Pulitzer’s political activism wound him through the U.S. House of Representatives, bending a path toward publishing when he bought the New York World newspaper in 1883. Six years after his death, Columbia University organized the first Pulitzer Prize awards for journalism … which have since been expanded to include recognizing achievements in literature, poetry, music, drama, and history.
Coming Tuesday, 3/28… The Fantasy Romance Edition
“Clock Dancing—” by LJ Longo
DON’T MISS OUR VIDEO ART: Watch art emerge as Read Gallo manipulates pigment and water to the whims of an imagination inspired by LJ’s Aries fantasy.
Cardinal Season
I’m not referring to the holly berry-colored birds sitting regal in contrast to winter’s snowy white coat. Nor am I speaking of St. Louis Cardinal baseball or Arizona Cardinal football. I mean the zodiac kind: Cardinal signs like Aries roll out the seasons … spring, in this case.
Cancer leads in the summer season; Libra ushers in the fall; and Capricorn makes way for winter. These are the Cardinal signs, and just like their seasons, they are all very enterprising and assertive in their own unique ways. Their individual sun signs may be quite different, yet, at their core, they all share that Cardinal hard wiring. They’re all just a little bit alike.
Finding those kinds of similarities with others has always been a skill I regard as vitally important to nurturing the common ground we all share. Everyone has something in common with everyone else … and here within the Dharma pages, we hope you enjoy the ways we’re sowing the wildflower words of our verbal victory garden.
REMINDER: FREE CONTENT will always be available on Dharma Direction. The free subscription encompasses each zodiac edition (Angel, Humor, Culinary, and Fantasy Romance) and is a gift we hope will keep on giving.
Until next time… Go With The Flow
~ Debbie Abbott, publisher/editor