Spring greens salad with oven-dried tomatoes, Gorgonzola, and seasoned sunflower seeds
On this Meatless Monday, I'll share a salad made from spring garden greens: kale, lemon sorrel and lettuce, all grown by the DH (dear hubby). He added in some Gorgonzola and sunflower seeds he had seasoned with curry and tamari. He topped it off with oven-dried tomatoes, also from the garden and stored in the freezer.
It's not too early to think about using those extra summer (or around here, fall) tomatoes! I will definitely be making these oven-dried gems again. The romas or other fleshy tomatoes work best. To make them, place some parchment paper on your baking sheets. Slice the tomatoes to a quarter inch. Toss in olive oil and herbs/salt/pepper. Bake in a low oven (250 or so) until they reach the desired state of chewiness (3-4 hours). Cool and store in the freezer. Amazing - they'll give your mouth a burst of flavor all winter long!
Notes: Try to keep the tomato slices about the same size and thickness. My little yellow ones, below, got finished faster than the romas. Also, do not allow the tomatoes to touch on the baking sheet.
Ready for the oven
All done!
7 comments:
My mouth is watering!
Oh, so yummy! In the past I've dehydrated Roma tomatoes and they were like candy! So good! I've also oven roasted them like you've done here. Tomatoes are such a wonderful treat!
Last summer I grew heirloom tomatoes and right before first frost I went out and harvested all that was left. I washed them, did not trim anything, and put them in zip-locks for the freezer. Amazing! I've been making tomato soup and sauces from them and the tomatoes have retained their summer-fresh flavor!
Great post! Thanks!
La Tea Dah - cool that you've frozen them and they worked out well!! I'll give that a try.
Your salad and especially the tomatoes look simply delicious! I need to remember to do that this year when we have a surplus. I will say we love to eat them fresh as much as possible, but these would be delightful in the winter salad too.
Your salad looks delish!
It hadn't occurred to me to make my own sun-dried (or oven-dried) tomatoes. Since we're planting what I hope will be a bumper crop, I definitely plan to use this idea!
Ever since I had a taste of the Kale salad you were having at The Cheese Bar I have been obsessed with raw Kale! Thanks for this fab recipe. And I am sure homegrown kale is extra awesome.
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