Recipe Rehab

        Take advantage of ripe tomatoes with this week's recipe. Baked Tomatoes with Asparagus is perfect for summer entertaining. Large tomatoes are scooped out, filled with asparagus pieces, drenched with a rich mixture of mayonnaise, cheddar and seasonings, and topped with crumbled bacon. Each serving contains 26 grams of fat.

        For this recipe, we:

        • Reduced the amount of regular mayonnaise from 1 cup to 3 tablespoons and added 1/2 cup low fat (1 gram per tablespoon) mayonnaise.

        • Replaced the cheddar cheese with a low fat (4 to 5 grams per ounce) variety.

        • Replaced the crumbled bacon with Hormel Real Bacon Pieces.

        Our rehabbed sauce was excellent. The biggest problem was getting the asparagus adequately cooked (tender-crisp) without over-cooking the tomato. We had two options. One was to use canned asparagus because it was already tender. The other was to slightly precook fresh asparagus.

        We microwaved the fresh asparagus 2 minutes, and it worked beautifully. It was just enough time to slightly cook the spears.

        With only 7 grams of fat per serving, these baked tomatoes will add color and flavor to your summer meals.

        • Tip of the Week: Hormel Real Bacon Pieces are a great substitute for recipes calling for crumbled bacon. They are lean bacon pieces, and there's no messy frying pan to clean.

        Contact Karen Weber, Pat Streicher and Ellen Illig of Jewish Hospital's Cholesterol Center by phone: 585-7946; fax: 585-6107; e-mail: weberkd@healthall.com.

Baked Tomatoes with Asparagus

        4 large tomatoes (or 8 medium), unpeeled

        1 1/2 pounds asparagus, cleaned, trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces

        3 tablespoons regular mayonnaise

        1/2 cup low fat (1 gram per tablespoon) mayonnaise

        1/8 teaspoon red pepper sauce

        1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

        3 tablespoons finely chopped onion

        2 ounces shredded low fat (4 to 5 grams per ounce) cheddar cheese

        3 tablespoons Hormel Real Bacon Pieces

        Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray 13-inch by 9-inch baking dish with vegetable oil spray. Cut tomatoes in half horizontally, remove core and seeds. Place in prepared dish, cut side up.

        In covered dish, microwave asparagus on high 2 minutes. In small bowl, combine mayonnaise, red pepper sauce, mustard, onion, and cheese. Fill tomato halves with asparagus pieces; spoon sauce on top.

        Bake at 375 degrees 10 to 15 minutes, until cheese is melted and tomato is heated through. Remove from oven; sprinkle with bacon pieces; return to oven for 5 minutes. Makes 8 servings (1 large tomato half or 2 medium halves per serving).

Before and after

        Values based on 1 serving

        Baked Tomatoes with Asparagus Adapted

        Calories 283 127

        Fat 26 g 7 g

        Carbohydrate 8 g 12 g

        Sodium 307 mg 343 mg

        Cholesterol 26 mg 9 mg

        Fiber 2 g 2 g

        Calories from fat 82% 49%

        Nutritionists recommend those on a daily 2,000 calorie diet limit their fat consumption to 65 g or less, cholesterol to 300 mg or less and sodium to 2,400 mg or less per day.

Required reading

        If you're planning a family camping trip or a Scout outing this summer, you might have fun with Recipes for Roughing it Easy (Dian Thomas Co.; $14.99) by Dian Thomas. This is a companion book to Ms. Thomas' first book, Roughing It Easy. It's full of clever ideas for setting up camp, cooking over an open fire and improvising a meal when you don't have equipment. (There are instructions for how to boil water in a paper cup and make breakfast in a paper bag.) Some are a little too clever — I'm not sure why you'd want to cook a barbecue chicken with hot rocks in a backpack — but there is much that's useful and fun.

We tried it

       This isn't new, but it's a handy product that anyone who bakes should know about. Saco instant buttermilk blend is a buttermilk powder that can be added with the dry ingredients to any recipe that calls for buttermilk.

        Buttermilk creates tender and light pancakes, muffins, cornbread and other baked goods. But it's hard to keep fresh buttermilk on hand. Buttermilk powder is always there, never goes bad and cooks up in baked goods like the real stuff. $3.99 at Bigg's.

Campbell's Scoop

        Where to go for Fourth of July nostalgia:

        A drive-in with car hops is a proud American invention. Few are left, but you still can have a burger and a root beer float today at Jolly's in Hamilton. 210 N. Erie Blvd. (513) 894-7541.

Stupid questions

        If you swallow gum, will it stay in your stomach for seven years?

        According to the kids' nutrition book Food Rules! (Puffin; $10.99) by Bill Haduch, a piece or two will pass right through the digestive system like fiber. But huge wads could get stuck and have to be surgically removed.

        Why did Yankee Doodle call a feather macaroni?

        In the 18th century, the sort of people who would eat something as outlandish and foreign as macaroni were the fashionable dandies who wore feathers and other decorations on their clothes. A dandy was known as a “macaroni.”

Learn to cook

        These cooking schools offer classes different times of the year. Call for schedules and prices.

        • Cooks' Wares, Shops at Harper's Point, Symmes Township, 489-6400.

        • Cooking School at Jungle Jim's Market, Fairfield, 829-1919, Ext. 3.

        • Culinary Sol, Rookwood Commons, Norwood, 841-2665.

        • Dorothy Lane Market School of Cooking, Dayton, (937) 434-1294.

        • Kremer's Market Cooking Classes, Crescent Springs, 341-1067.

        • Restaurant Equipment Outlet's Cooking Classes, Northside, 542-5900.

        • Wild Oats, Rookwood Commons, Norwood, 531-8015.

        • Williams-Sonoma Grand Cuisine, Kenwood Towne Centre, 793-3445.

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