Roasted Tomatoes

Normally I avoid using my oven as much as possible in this blasted heat, but when I saw grape tomatoes last week, looking all shiny and delicious at Trader Joe's, I had to try this recipe I've been saving for a while. It was featured in a Martha Stewart living; chef Tony Esnault roasts the tomatoes simply and then puts them on zucchini rounds (I can't find the link anywhere online, but you'll soon see how dead simple this is!)

Take the (washed and patted dry) tomatoes, scatter them in an oven-proof skillet (such as my kick-butt cast iron baby). Place 3-4 garlic cloves throughout the dish, drizzle with a little olive oil, then sprinkle on a light dash of salt. The original recipe calls for fresh thyme and marjoram, but I had neither, and a quick run to the corner store proved fruitless, so I used dried marjoram. Still tasty.

Pop these ruby beauties in a 400 degree oven until the tomatoes start to burst, which will be about 25-30 minutes. I opened the oven about halfway through and gave the skillet a good shake, making sure the tomatoes all got covered evenly in the olive oil. Your kitchen, hot as it might be on a warm summer evening, will smell divine.

Shockingly, I had no zucchini on hand this week, so I served them on their own. I had a half cup with dinner last night, and then reheated some more this morning with my breakfast omelet and avocado salad (just a few slices of avocado drizzled with lime juice and diced red onion-YUM). Delicious--and so good for you!!!!And I KNOW I don't have to tell you how amazing the roasted garlic is. Deeeelish!