The last of the summer tomatoes are still showing up at farm stands, so I’ve been snapping them up. And then as is common for me, forgetting about them until they start to go wrinkly. But now I don’t grieve over that like I used to, ever since my friend Sara proved to me that slightly overripe tomatoes are the best ones for roasting.
I tossed these beautiful red and yellow grape tomatoes in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar and put them under the broiler until the skin started to char. I’ve been eating them for lunch every day with bread and mozzarella cheese. Roasted tomatoes are so good I’ve started ignoring the fresh ones I bring home just to have an excuse to make more.
While I had the broiler going, and with an overcast fall day around me, I kept the roasting love going and made some sweet potato fries by tossing them in olive oil and chili powder.
And then roasted up some butternut squash in olive oil and plenty of salt. I hated squash for most of my life because all I’d had was nasty defrosted puree. Roasting makes it so good it’s like that stuff I ate as a kid was a whole different vegetable.
With all these wonderful fall vegetables roasted up, Atti and I have a feast at lunch time. Well, mainly me because he eats one piece of anything and then refuses anything else but Cheerios, but at least I get to feel like I’m offering him tasty nutritious lunches before I just eat it myself.