I love July and August when local produce is bountiful and we can practically live on fresh salads. This is the time of year to let all of your salad boundaries down and combine any number of ingredients! One of my favorites that is delicious with everything, is roasted cherry tomatoes. I went to the Tuesday Eastern Market this week to pick up some salad mix from Food Field and impulse purchased beautifully coloured cherry tomatoes. Unfortunately they only had 1 pint left, now I know for next time to get there early!
When cherry tomatoes are fresh from the vine I can eat them like candy, roast them and I lose all control! I actually can’t believe that any of the roasted tomatoes made it into our quiche today.
Below is the recipe for roasted cherry tomatoes that I used for the quiche. It is super easy, delicious and versatile. I play pretty fast and loose with recipes so feel free to adjust at will.
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup lovage, finely chopped. Lovage is a leafy herb that looks like parsley, but tastes like celery, it is a flavourfull addition to almost anything and can be found at your local farmer’s market. I love lovage (I also love saying that) but many different herbs would work well here, I’d recommend basil or parsley but it’s summer time so let your imagination run wild!
1 – 2 cloves garlic minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
10 – 15 turns of the pepper mill
Set oven to broil. Or if your oven doesn’t broil, 500 F will work. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, toss until tomatoes are fully coated. Move all ingredients to a baking pan/dish, place in the oven and roast for 10 – 15 min. I check them at around 10 min, give them a stir. The tomatoes should be starting to crack, but still be intact. I like to catch them just before they crack so they pop in my mouth with a little flavour explosion!
These tomatoes can be added to a salad, pasta with a little extra olive oil and parmesan, quiche, burst and spread on sandwiches, eaten with fresh mozzarella and basil as a twist on a caprese salad, or just popped whole into your mouth. Enjoy!
