I recently joined an online community, TIA.  This month is the 2 year anniversary of the community.  As part of the celebrations, we have a few contests and recipe contest is one of them.  Category for the contest is a Veg Snack.  This recipe is my entry for the contest that closed last night, June the 7th.  However, I sent it as ‘Baked Tomato Onion Chat in Shells’.

Source: Paula Dean from Food Network. I saw this recipe couple of years ago on her food network and is one of my favorites ever since. I modified the recipe a little to my taste buds.
Total Time: 25 minutes
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Baking Time: 10 minutes
Yields: 15
Serves: 3

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup thinly diced tomatoes
• 2 tbsp thinly diced onions
• 1 ½ tsp chopped chilies
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• ¼ tsp pepper
• Salt to taste
• ½ cup finely shredded Mexican cheese (blend of Colby, Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese)
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise (opt)
• 1 packet mini phillo shells

Preparation:

• Remove the seeds and dice the tomatoes.
• Put the tomatoes in a sieve or a colander to drain the juices.
• Dice the onions, chop the chilies and cilantro, and add to tomatoes.
• Add pepper and salt to the tomato mixture and mix well.
• In a bowl mix mayonnaise and shredded cheese.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Line a cookie sheet or a baking tray with an aluminum foil, for easy cleanup.
• Place the shells on the baking tray and fill it with ½ – ¾ tsp of tomato mixture.
• Top the shells with little cheese mixture (approx. ½ tsp).
• Bake the shells for 10 minutes and yummy shells are ready to dig in.
• Serve immediately.

Note:

• You can use any cheese you prefer. But make sure it is finely grated or shredded. I used Mexican cheese, which is a blend of Colby, Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese. You could use just cheddar or just Mozzarella
  cheese.
• You can find mini shells in freezer section of the
  grocery stores.
• Shells can be substituted for bread slices.  Remove the edges, cut it into required shape, round, square, and toast it on one side.  On the toasted side, add the tomato mixture, top it with cheese and bake.
• You can use any filling you like.

Nutritional Information:

• I calculated the calories based on the nutritional information provided on the package. All the calories are from cheese, mayonnaise and the mini phillo shells.
• Calories per serving size:
  • With Mayonnaise – 135 cal.
  • Without mayonnaise – 120 cal.
• Heah, don’t let the calories scare you. I didn’t have low fat cheese at home. Make it with low fat or non fat cheese and burn out some extra calories at gym…:)