Saturday Sides: Roasted Grape Tomatoes (I didn’t forget; neener, neener)

[Saturday Sides is a weekly feature I run to help you combat the side dish blahs.  Check here every Saturday to see what's new and different you can add to your dinner table.  Or, you can subscribe here so that you never miss a Saturday Side Recipe.]

You all thought I was going to forget my promise from this week to post two Saturday Sides, didn’t you?  You were all like, “That Angie.  She’s gonna cheese out on us.  I just know it.”  But, that would make you . . . wrong.  I remembered!  And, I delivered!  You can count on me. 

So, this vegetable side dish, Roasted Tomatoes,  is something I’ve been making off and on for many years, in differing forms.  There’s a couple of things I love about this side dish, and one of them is this:  it’s so diverse.  You can make a multitude of tiny changes and have a completely different flavor.  For instance, I used to use whole Roma tomatoes to make this, but these days I’m using grape tomatoes.  (I saw grape tomatoes used in Everyday Food in March’s issue and loved the idea!).  You can go very basic (like I have done here) with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  If you want to get adventurous, you can add a mere teaspoon of balsamic vinegar, apricot preserves, garlic powder, or tamari and instantly change the taste, but not the “I-wanna-lick-my-plate” factor.

 There’s another thing I love about this dish, too.  Now, a real chef would never, not in a million years, no not ever, suggest that anyone use produce that is not at it’s very peak of freshness.  Fortunately, a culinary degree gave me professional training, but it didn’t turn me into an impractical housewife.  I remember watching (muted, of course) that uber obnoxious TV personality that likes to make 30-minute meals throw an entire onion into her “garbage bowl”.  I hit rewind twice on the DVR to figure out why in the world she was putting an entire onion in her garbage bowl and finally gave in.  I turned on the volume and subsequently laughed my ass off when I realized she ditched it because the center was green.  I thought “Honey, you obviously don’t live in the middle of nowhere with 3 kids and a husband that’s expecting dinner in 20 minutes.  Just cut out the bad stuff and, thank you, drive thru.”  Well, anyhow, this recipe lets you use tomatoes that are a tiny bit wrinkly or beyond the pop-in-the-mouth-as-a-snack stage.  My hubby loves fresh grape tomatoes, but if they are even a teensy bit wrinkled, he won’t eat them.  He says “Those are yucky.  Just toss ‘em.”  At $3.50 a pint, we’re eating those buggers, even if they are wrinkled.

So, these are super simple, but beautiful on a plate.  And, like I said, you can add most anything to them for a different taste.  They’re great with beef, chicken . . . fish, pork, whatever you got going on.

Roasted Tomatoes

2 pints grape tomatoes
4 green onions, cut into sections (white and green sections included)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400F degrees.
Wash the tomatoes and add the green onion pieces.  Here you can see some of these tomatoes are a bit wrinkly.  Don’t worry about that, because they’ll be really wrinkled after you roast them.

Add olive oil, salt, and pepper and mix.

 

Put tomatoes on a baking sheet and remove the upper green sections of the green onion, setting them aside.  The green sections get a little slimy if you bake them for 15 to 20 minutes.  They won’t hurt anything if you forget to take them out, but they might not look or taste great.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the skins are split in places and the tomatoes are tender.
Add the reserved green sections back in.

Serve while hot.

 Here’s the recipe again, without the pictures:

Roasted Tomatoes

2 pints grape tomatoes
4 green onions, cut into sections (white and green sections)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Wash the tomatoes and add the green onion pieces.
Add olive oil, salt, and pepper and mix.
Put tomatoes on a baking sheet and remove the upper green sections of the green onion, setting them aside.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the skins are split in places and the tomatoes are tender.
Add the reserved green sections back in.
Serve while hot.

Similar Posts:

• Saturday Sides: Stuffed Tomatoes
• Saturday Sides: Green Bean Saute with Tomatoes
• Saturday Sides: Roasted Green Beans aka “Green Fries”
• Venetian Apricot Chicken Completely Rocks
• Saturday Sides: Roadhouse Home Fries

Tagged as: grape tomato, roasted tomatoes, Saturday Sides, Side Dishes, tomato, tomatoes, vegetable recipe, Vegetables