God is so “artsy”

And how to make them last longer..
adapted from Rachel Ray‘s

Waste Not:
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

A simple and tasty way to extend the shelf life of your tomatoes

I’m a big believer in using up what I have on-hand in the kitchen. I hate wasting food and to be honest, I find it a challenge to come up with a new and exciting way to use up something I might have tossed.Case in point: cherry tomatoes. My garden is overflowing with juicy tomatoes of every variety right now. It’s insane and we cannot keep up. To add to the insanity, I found some store bought grape tomatoes hiding in the back of my fridge. They were still edible but starting to wrinkle and I just knew if I waited another day or two, they’d totally be spoiled. My 5 year old loves them but definitely would not eat them if the skin wasn’t super perfectly smooth—le sigh! Anyway…I took one look at my kitchen full of tiny tomatoes and decided I would not let them go to waste and instead, take matters into my own hands and roast those babies up.Roasting tomatoes is a great way to bring out their natural sweetness. The flavor profile of the tomato intensifies and you are left with something so simple yet so elegant, you wont believe your taste buds. The best thing is, it adds 5 more days to tomatoes you might have given up on. I love to roast up a batch of these and keep them in an airtight container in my fridge. Toss them with pasta, mix them into omelets, use them as a sandwich topping or as an elegant appetizer spread on some ricotta topped crunchy baguette. The possibilities are endless and honestly, who would have thought using what you have could be so deliciously rewarding?

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Ingredients:
2-4 cups grape or cherry tomatoes
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Place tomatoes onto baking sheet. Drizzle with oil, vinegar and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss with your fingers to coat. Bake until tomatoes burst and begin to caramelize, about 20 minutes. Toss with fresh pasta, use as a sandwich topper or as an appetizer for crusty bread spread with ricotta cheese.

Yumm!