blog postings for tomatoes

Here's a quick chicken dinner I made last night. I took chicken quarters--my preferred cut of chicken, because they're meaty and moist and cheap--stuffed them with some roasted tomatoes I had from my last batch of home-roasted tomatoes (scroll down to see roasted tomato tutorial), some feta cheese (the real kind made from sheep's milk), fresh basil leaves and a smudge of roasted red pepper pesto I had left-over. The recipe would be fine without it though. I baked them for an hour and then drizzled the pan juices over some sweet potato wedges, which went great with the zesty quarters. I served it with some arugula and sliced mushrooms, which I also drizzled with some pan juices. A perfect dinner to usher out summer and welcome fall. 

When the summer starts waning, but tomatoes are still bursting our of boxes at the farmers market, and we’ve tired of caprese salad, and sliced tomato sandwiches, I fire up the oven and roast them. There really are no hard and fast rules to this, but here’s what I’ve found to work. Gather tomatoes.  I often ask for “seconds” (imperfect tomatoes) at the farmers market, which they’ll gladly unload for next to nothing. These are perfect for roasting.

When presented with a bumper crop, most folks love to can tomatoes. But I didn’t grow up with a granny or mom who did this, so I never learned how, exactly. One year I froze a bunch of tomatoes, but found that they just languished in the bottom of the freezer. What I like to do best with a bunch of tomatoes is roast them. Last year, I purchased tomato “seconds” from my produce stand and roasted them all summer long. There is virtually no dish you can’t use them in, if one exists I didn’t find it. I tossed them in pasta ( hot and cold), and on sandwiches, served them with steak and fish, sprinkled them on pizza and pureed them for a rich dip or pesto. They’re also go good on an antipasto platter, alongside olives, artichokes, cheese and bruschetta. The other good thing about them is that you can roast them for as long or little as you like—2 hours at a higher temperature or 8 hours at a super low temperature (200 degrees). Once they’re done, store them in zip-top bags in the fridge.  Here’s the recipe:

Roasted Tomatoes
12 Roma tomatoes or round red tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325F. Cut Roma tomatoes in half or larger tomatoes in quarters. Place cut side up on a foil-lined baking sheet. Scatter sliced garlic on top and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake 2 hours or until soft and shriveled. Serves 6.

Per serving: 45 calories, 3g fat, 1g prot., 5g carbs., 2g fiber, 200mg sodium.