Brown rice tart with tomato and feta

Hello :) I will post about "ways to boost your vegetable intake" soon, but first I wanted to share this recipe I made for dinner last night. As the title suggests (quite subtly I think), I made a brown rice tart with tomato and feta. The recipe was given to me by a good friend (hello T!) so I decided to give it a whirl.

Recipe: Brown rice tart with tomato and feta
Base-
1 cup brown rice
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
Filling- 
6 roma tomatoes, halved (I quartered mine)
6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 lemon thyme sprigs
1/3 cup crumbled feta
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk

Directions:
1. Boil the rice for 35-40 minutes, or unil tender; drain and leave to cool. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Put the rice, cheese and egg in a bowl and mix together well. Spread the mixture over the base and sides of a lightly greased 25cm flan ton or quiche dish and bake for 15 minutes.
3. To make the filling, place the tomatoes on a non-stick baking tray, cut sides up, along with the garlic. Brush with olive oil and grind some black pepper on top. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from the oven and let it cool slightly.
4. Reduce the oven temp to 180. Arrange the tomato halves, garlic, lemon thyme sprigs and feta over the rice crust.
5. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and the milk, then pour over the tomatoes. Bake for 1 hour, or until the filling has set. Serve hot or cold.
** When the rice has about 15 minutes left, put the tomatoes in the oven, so you can put the rice base in  when the tomatoes have about 15 minutes left, and take them both out at the same time **

As you can see, I didn't have any lemon thyme sprigs but I couldn't really tell because it was super delicious regardless! The brown rice base was crusty and yummy, a very healthy alternative to a pastry base. The tomatoes were juicy, the garlic sweet and the feta soft and creamy. It's really filling too, and makes enough for leftovers. Definitely adding this recipe to my repertoire!

Also, this morning my friend (hello T, again!) came over for morning tea. We made scones and served them with White Peach Jam, that we made together the other day! It took a while to make, but turned out very well (although perhaps a little too sweet). It made two jars, so she gave me one to keep. We'd like to try making berry jam too, but want a recipe using hardly any sugar or alternatives such as grapefruit juice. And she also gave me a small jar of homemade mango and ginger chutney too. How lovely!

Hannah x

P.S. I can't believe Justine Henin is out of the Australian Open!!! She was one of my favourites...