Scrumptious and Easy Appetizer

I am salivating as I write this because I’ve just discovered the easiest, most delicious appetizer!  One of the benefits of cleaning out my pantry (see post here) was the chance to organize piles of recipes I’ve collected….and finally making a few.

Inspired by the huge cherry tomato crop we are now harvesting, these 4 simple ingredients (tomatoes, garlic, mint and olive oil) are fabulous together. There is nothing better than a super easy recipe that gets rave reviews.

Here’s a selfie I took of the tomato plant (I thought the perspective was interesting).

There is always so much mint in the garden.  It’s one of those incursive plants that you just can’t kill. I was skeptical of mixing mint with tomatoes (yuck) as it seems like an unnatural combination.

I love the oil container my son bought me for Christmas (from Williams Sonoma)….it’s so handy vs. the large bottles.

The recipe calls for 7 cloves of garlic, but I always add more.  You can never have too much garlic. Also, try and make sure the tomatoes are roughly the same size and uncut so they bake evenly.

A little salt and pepper….

Toss it all together. Isn’t this beautiful?

And slow roast for 45 to 60 minutes.  I let mine roast for the full hour.  Ahhhh…the aroma! My kitchen smelled so good!

Look at these little gems, bursting with flavor!

I don’t know what the mint does to the tomatoes, but the flavor was so spectacular.  Tastes nothing like mint, but enhances everything else. Toast some slices of baguette, spread some nice soft goat cheese and top with the tomato mixture.

Absolutely heavenly!

I had some leftover roasted tomatoes and I added them to scrambled eggs.  I think you could spread this on cardboard and it would be divine.  When I finished the tomatoes, I poured the oil over a chicken breast before I popped it in the oven.  Again, it was superb and made the kitchen have that “what are you cooking that smells so good” smell.

We recently had friends over for dinner.  One of our guests, a Navy SEAL said he didn’t like cherry tomatoes but LOVED this recipe.

Enjoy!!!

Here is the Recipe for Slow-Baked Tomatoes with Garlic and Mint (originally published in the September 2010 issue of Better Homes and Gardens)

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