Extra: Make Your Own "Sundried" Grape Tomatoes

What is this, you're asking?

Pure sunshine on a plate!

I'm a tomato hater. I will not eat tomatoes in eggs, on sandwiches, in pastas. I will eat ketchup and sauces where the little buggers are fully macerated, but if there's chunks of tomato in there, forget it. It's limiting, but what can you do? The texture just sets my teeth on edge. TBird loves tomatoes though, and I've always felt a little guilty for denying him that sweet flavor in our food, so I'm relaunching my attempt to love them.

I knew to start out that my best bet were the cute little grape or cherry tomatoes in the produce section. Less seeds, less weird textured inside, and conveniently bite-sized. After zipping around the internet for cooking ideas I found a technique from the ever-wonderful smittenkitchn.com (here), but you can get tips on slow roasting tomatoes all over the web. Her best tip for me was the addition of the garlic cloves still in their peels! Genius.

So what do you need? Just a basket of those grape tomatoes from your grocery store, olive oil, seasonings you like, and garlic if you want it. Toss your tomatoes in the oil, spice em up, and roast them for a few hours on a low heat (think 225-250F). Some places recommend up to 3-4 hours, but I found they didn't need that long or they would dry out completely. After a couple of hours toss em around on the pan and pop one in your mouth - it should have a huge explosion of flavor for such a tiny little tomato. I used garlic powder, a little sea salt, and oregano on my tomatoes and they tasted like pizza (for about a quarter of the calories!). To keep them good, just put them in a sealed container with a drizzle of oil to keep them moist.

The best part about these baby tomatoes is you can use them in anything. The aforementioned eggs, sandwiches, and pastas would benefit. Lightening up a pizza by replacing the sauce with these is a great way to have a cleaner, healthier indulgence. I'll admit that I ate the entire basket by themselves as snack foods, right here at my desk. Mash up that roasted garlic and toss both garlic and tomatoes in veggie mixes and stirfries. Roast some broccoli or French beans along with them for a side dish. Literally, you can use them anywhere, at any time, with essentially any meal - you're only limited by your new love for roasted tomatoes.