This post has kindly been sponsored by Village Farms, but all opinions are 100% my own.

Just because back to school has rolled around and life is a little hectic right now, doesn’t mean that family dinners should go bye-bye because of a lack of time!  If anything, this is the time of year where family dinners become even more important because it just might be the only time everyone is together in one place! As you know by now, easy dinners that use minimal ingredients and can be on the table in around 30 minutes are kinda my thing!  That’s why I partnered with Village Farm Tomatoes to bring you not one, but THREE easy dinners that can be on your table in a hurry any night of the week! My Mexican Tomato Soup, Grilled Tomato and Cheese Sandwiches, and Skillet Chicken with Green Beans and Tomatoes are three recipes that your whole family is going to love!

One tip for planning meals for busy weeks is to do one large grocery run where you can grab everything you need for dinners for the whole week!  I make a list on Sundays of the recipes I want to make, and then simply do one big run Monday morning! This keeps you from having to make multiple trips (that’s a time saver right there) and you will have all of your ingredients on hand to prep in advance or to make the night of!  I always shop at our local HEB grocery store where I can grab everything I need from the Village Farms tomatoes to the rest of my ingredients where I know they are fresh and high quality ingredients that I am looking for! I am always impressed with all of the healthy options that HEB offers to its customers including their selection of Village Farms tomatoes that happen to be grown in a greenhouse right here in Marfa, Texas, which is so cool to me!  I love when I know that my ingredients are grown in the same area as me, don’t you?

Another tip for easy weeknight cooking is to make dinnertime fun by getting the whole family involved with prepping the food.  This is one of my favorite tips for getting kids excited about what they are eating! Nine times out of ten, if they help you prep it, they will eat it!  Plus, it’s quality time that everyone can chat about their day before sitting down to dinner. I grew up in a house where we all ate dinner together and it’s still one of my favorite traditions to carry on with my own family because it really is a time to share good food and to interact with each other.

These three recipes are going to become regular dinners in your house because they are healthy, easy, and taste amazing too!  I can’t wait for you to try them out for yourself!

Check out more tomato recipe inspiration and the over on the Village Farms Blog!

Mexican Style Tomato Soup:

Ingredients:

• 4 Cups of Village Farms Sinfully Sweet Campari® Tomatoes

• 1 Poblano Pepper, cut in half

• 1 Onion, quarted

• 4 Cloves of Garlic

• 1 Tbsp. Avocado Oil

• 1 Tsp. Salt

• 1/2 Tsp. Black Pepper

• 1 Tsp. Cumin

• 1 Tsp. Mexican Oregano

• 2 Tbsp. Fresh Lime Juice

• 6 Cups of Chicken or Vegetable Broth

For the Toppings-

• Heavy Cream (optional)

• Cilantro

• Avocado Slices

• Jalapenos

• Tortilla Chips

Directions:

• Preheat an oven to 425 degrees.

• Slice Sinfully Sweet Campari® tomatoes in half and place on a parchment lined baking sheet along with the poblano pepper, the onion, and garlic.

• Drizzle with oil and season with salt, pepper, cumin, and oregano.

• Roast for 20-25 minutes until caramelized slightly and then remove seeds from pepper.

• After roasting place in a large pot and add chicken stock and lime juice. Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. Strain with a fine mesh strainer to achieve a smooth consistency if desired and then bring to a simmer for another 5-10 minutes.

• Serve as is or with desired toppings.

Grilled Tomato and Cheese:

Ingredients:

• 8 Slices of Hearty Whole Grain Bread

• 4 Village Farms Delectable TOV® (tomatoes on the vine)

• 8 Slices of Cheese (I used Havarti and Colby Jack)

• Salt and Pepper

• 4-6 Tbsp. Softened Butter

Directions:

• Slice Delectable TOV® about 1/8 inch thick and then salt and place on paper towels to remove excess liquid for 5-10 minutes.

• Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium high heat.

• Butter one side of all of the bread slices and then layer the non-butter side with havarti cheese, tomatoes, a little pepper, and then a layer of colby jack cheese.

• Place the other bread slice on top, buttered side up. (So that buttered sides are facing out.)

• Place onto the hot skillet and use another heavy pan to place on top of the sandwiches to help melt the cheese and press the sandwiches.

• Flip after about 5 minutes when a nice crust has formed on one side.

• Repeat the process on the other side. Serve immediately.

Skillet Chicken with Green Beans and Tomatoes:

Ingredients:

• 4 Chicken Thighs

• 15 oz. Village Farms Heavenly Villagio Marzano® Tomatoes

• 1 1/2 Cups of Green Beans

• 1 Minced Garlic Clove

• 1/4 Cup Chicken Stock

• 1 Tbsp. Salt

• 1 Tsp. Pepper

• 1/2 Tsp. Sumac (optional, can sub paprika)

• 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

• 1 Tsp. Fresh Lemon Juice

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

• Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.

• Season chicken on both sides with 1/2 of the salt and pepper and all of the sumac.

• Add oil to the hot skillet and add chicken skin side down to sear on both sides.

• Sear for 5 minutes or until chicken skin easily releases from the pan and flip and repeat on the other side.

• Bring pot of water to a boil and then add green beans to blanche for 2 minutes and then drain.

• Remove the chicken from the pan and add tomatoes at this time along with the garlic and slightly char the tomatoes for 2-3 minutes.

• Deglaze the pan with chicken stock and then add in green beans, season with the rest of the salt and pepper, and then nestle the chicken back into the pan in between the tomatoes and green beans.

• Place into the oven for 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked through and skin is crispy.

• Squeeze lemon juice over the whole dish when it comes out of the oven and serve immediately.

How delicious do these recipes look? The tomatoes made them extra special and I love that they are all so easy and perfect for easy weeknight meals with back to school in full swing! Make sure to pick up your favorite varieties of Village Farms tomatoes the next time you are at HEB or your local grocery store so that you can make these recipes asap!