Monthly Archives: April 2009

Recipes Veggies

Quick and Easy Pasta with Slow Roasted Tomatoes

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Sometimes making a meal can be a real pain.  You’re tired, the kids are screaming and you don’t feel like cooking.  But fast food is not an option (again) and you want your family to eat a healthy meal.  This pasta takes only about 20 minutes to make and is sure to make everyone happy, including you.

I previously posted a recipe for slow roasted tomatoes which is an ingredient in this hearty pasta. If you do not have the roasted tomatoes on hand, substitute with a can of chopped tomatoes seasoned with Italian herbs.

Sausage, Roasted Tomatoes and Pasta

Sausage, Roasted Tomatoes and Pasta

Quick and Easy Pasta with Slow Roasted Tomatoes

12 oz farfalle pasta

2 TB olive oil from slow roasted tomatoes

4 (one 12 oz package) Spinach, Fontina & Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage* or cooked sausage of your choice, sliced

1 portion of slow roasted tomatoes, chopped, with reserved olive oil

Kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

In a large pot of salted, boiling water cook pasta according to directions.  While pasta is cooking, heat the oil over medium flame in large skillet.   Cook sausage for 4-5 minutes, until lightly browned.  Stirring, add chopped tomatoes and remaining olive oil.  Carefully ladle about 1-2 cups of the pasta cooking water into the skillet.  Bring sauce to a boil, lower heat to simmer, let sauce thicken slightly.  If needed add more pasta water if sauce is too dry.  When pasta is done, add it to the skillet.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Grate Parmesan cheese over the top if desired.

Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

*found at Trader Joe’s Markets

Recipes Veggies

Flavorful Slow Roasted Tomatoes

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Tomatoes are a wonderful and versatile fruit that we enjoy year round.  But should we enjoy them year round, as they are so much better when they are in season between June and September.  How many times have you eaten a tomato that was tasteless and bland?  That is because it was probably grown in another country, picked while still green, ripened by being exposed to a chemical and shipped thousands of miles to your market. In the off season if you can find tomatoes on the vine, choose these because they are generally more flavorful than conventional store tomatoes.

This recipe for slow roasted tomatoes works well with winter tomatoes, and is even better with fresh summer tomatoes.  You can use almost any fresh herb, such as thyme, oregano, tarragon or basil.  What you plan to do with your roasted tomatoes will help you decide which herb or herbs to use.  I made this batch with oregano because that is what I had in my refrigerator. Kind of made my choice easy and simple…

Fresh tomatoes and oregano

Fresh tomatoes and oregano

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

6 medium tomatoes, preferably vine ripened

1 TB fresh chopped oregano

1 tsp Kosher salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/3 – 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Turn oven on to low setting, or about 200 degrees.  Quarter and seed the tomatoes.  Place tomatoes on a baking sheet, sprinkle oregano, salt, pepper and olive oil on tomatoes.  Toss to coat tomatoes with seasoning and oil.

Seeded tomatoes with oregano and olive oil

Seeded tomatoes with oregano and olive oil

There will be a good amount of oil on the baking sheet, but the oil will become flavored with the ingredients.  Use this oil along with the tomatoes to make a sauce, drizzle it onto pasta or dip crusty bread into it.

Roast the tomatoes for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, until soft and wrinkly.  Let the tomatoes cool on the pan, then store the cooked tomatoes covered with the oil if not using immediately.

Slow roasted tomatoes

Slow roasted tomatoes

Roasted tomatoes are great chopped and added to pasta or salads, pureed and made into a sauce, on a sandwich, on bruschetta, in omelets, and so many other ways.

Cheryl D Lee on Foodista

News 'n' Stuff

Local Harvest Champions a Sustainable World

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Local Harvest

real food, real farmers, real community

Local Harvest is a great resource for cooks and anyone interested in sourcing locally grown foods in their communities.  According to their website  you can find farmer’s markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.

When you get to the home page of Local Harvest you can enter your zip code and get a listing of local farmer’s markets, farms, honey producers, produce stands, etc.  There are almost two million farms in the USA, and about 80% of those are small farms.  Many of these small farms are also family owned.  These farmers are not huge, government subsidized, agri-business farms, just regular people trying to grow the best product they can. These farmers sell their products through farmer’s markets, food co-ops, farm stands and CSA, which stand for Community Supported Agriculture.

With CSA you buy “shares”  or memberships from a local farmer, and you then receive a box of produce each week as it is harvested.  CSAs can also include the option for shareholders to buy shares of eggs, homemade bread, meat, cheese, fruit, flowers or other farm products along with their veggies. According to Local Harvest, the advantages of CSA include;

Advantages for farmers:

  • Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16 hour days in the field begin
  • Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm’s cash flow
  • Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow

Advantages for consumers:

  • Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits
  • Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
  • Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season
  • Find that kids typically favor food from “their” farm – even veggies they’ve never been known to eat
  • Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown

Local Harvest also offers a store where you can buy products from farmers all over the USA, who also offer their wares to local customers.  These include produce, meat, soap and body care, flowers, pet products, honey, seeds, herbs, preserves, wool and fibers, gift baskets and so much more.

Local Harvest is a website that should be bookmarked by everyone interested in locally sourced products.  Buying locally saves on transportation costs, which is environmentally responsible.  Most produce in the US is picked 4 to 7 days before being placed on supermarket shelves, and is shipped for an average of 1500 miles before being sold.  When you buy local your food will be fresher, and you will know exactly where it comes from.

http://www.localharvest.org/

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