A couple weeks ago, I had to do that shameful walk to the garbage can and throw away a few veggies that went bad in the fridge that were supposed to be starring in all the healthy breakfasts, lunches and dinners I was going to be making that week. I hate that walk. However, I also saw a little package of cherry tomatoes sitting in a dark corner of the kitchen counter. While they were starting to get a little wrinkly, they seemed perfectly fine. I did a sigh of relief that I didn't have to throw those away too! I kept telling myself I needed to use up those tomatoes pronto, but kept taking a glance at them every couple days and seeing that although they were getting a tad more wrinkly each day, they were still totally good to use. No visible signs they needed to walk the plank.

I started searching for recipes for wrinkly tomatoes. I couldn't believe how many delicious things you can make with them! Tomatoes are basically my go-to to have on hand now because their shelf life is pretty phenomenal for how delicate they are. They are no durable butternut squash, so it is pretty impressive!

This is time of year that plenty of us have countertops full of all sorts of varieties and sizes of tomatoes. There is nothing like a ripe, sweet, fresh tomato. But it can be hard to use them all up before they go bad. I've started slow-roasting my tomatoes and then putting them in the fridge and I have found this is the PERFECT thing to do with tomatoes, especially the small ones like grape and cherry tomatoes. So here is how you make slow-roasted tomatoes and a few ideas for how to use them.

First order of business: make sure they are indeed still edible. You should toss your tomatoes if they have any mold growing on them--white, black or green or have any liquid leaking from the bottom.

DIY SLOW-ROASTED TOMATOES:

Follow the directions from the recipe at the bottom of this post and after you make those perfect slow-roasted tomatoes, try one of these ideas:

IDEAS FOR SLOW-ROASTED TOMATOES:

*Make a lighter chicken parmesan by topping grilled chicken with roasted tomatoes and fresh mozzarella and baking just until the cheese melts.

*Make delicious hors d'oeuvres by alternating roasted tomatoes with bocconcini halves (small fresh mozzarella balls) on a toothpick.

*Make the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich by adding roasted tomatoes along with your favorite cheese.

*Take notes from your grilled cheese and make another classic sandwich: a BLT but use your roasted tomatoes in place of the raw ones.

*Toss in any salad or pasta dish to make it more special.

*Add the roasted tomatoes to a quiche along with other vegetables.

HOW TO STORE SLOW-ROASTED TOMATOES

One little tip I read is that after you roast them along with a few cloves of garlic, add those to a small jar and fill with olive oil to store in the fridge and pick out as you need them.

SLOW-ROASTED CHERRY TOMATOES

Prep time:
Cook time:
Yield:

Serving size: 6
Calories per serving: 0

Ingredients:
1 pound cherry tomatoes, halved (or any tomatoes)
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Put the tomatoes and garlic on a baking sheet. Toss with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the tray to the oven and roast for 2 to 3 hours, until shriveled but still moist. Allow to cool and peel the garlic cloves. Enjoy immediately or store in a jar in the refrigerator topped with olive oil.

Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.