Tomato Week Concludes: Hack Your Sunday Netflix Binge...
Here’s a fun one the next time you’re treating yourself to an evening at home with Netflix (aka this Sunday night). Oven-dried, or roasted, tomatoes! It seemed counterintuitive to me that I would want to turn on my oven in the heat of the summer to capitalize on one of my favorite summer treats to eat raw, but I’m glad I did!
These are a real treat and require hardly any active time in the kitchen on your part. Pop them in the oven before you sit down for your nightly Netflix binge. You’ll get two episodes in while they cook, and you’ll go to bed not only having satisfied your craving for insert AMC, HBO, or Netflix Original series show name here but also knowing you made yourself something really delicious and healthy for lunch tomorrow.
And lentils are a great lunchtime staple. Again something you can cook once at the beginning of the week and use in various combinations as a base. With this recipe, we have another instance of our dear Ottolenghi being a bit impractical with his ingredient selections. He suggests that “Castelluccio” lentils are the best because they hold their shape very well. However, they are impossible to find. Even at an Italian speciality store where he claims they should be “readily available.” As a second option he says Le Puy lentils, which cost over $10 a bag and also are not that easy to find. Basic green lentils. They will do just fine, cost $3 and can be bought pretty much anywhere.
This is another Ottolenghi recipe from Plenty that I am not at all intimidated to do on a weeknight, so long as I am planning to spend a few hours on the couch anyway.
“Better than a Netflix Binge” Oven-Dried Tomato, Lentil and Gorgonzola Salad
- 5 plum tomatoes, quartered vertically
- 8 thyme sprigs
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper
- 1 1/3 cups green lentils
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 garlic clove, crushed with a press
- 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
- 3 tablespoons chopped chives
- 4 tablespoons dill, chopped
- 3 ounces mild Gorgonzola cheese
Before we sit down for Netflix, let’s get all of this cooking business squared away. Turn the oven on to 275˚ F. Also put a pot of water on to boil. When it boils add the lentils and let them cook in the boiling water for about 20-30 minutes until they are tender.
While the lentils are cooking prep your tomatoes and get them in the oven. Quarter them vertically by halving them lengthwise and then halving them again. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (clean up reduction!) and place the tomatoes skin side down. Arrange the thyme sprigs on top of the tomatoes and drizzle everything with the balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Put them in the oven and let them roast for an hour and a half (or two 45 minute episodes of House of Cards). When they’re done they will be sort of shriveled but not still have some moisture. This is not the 80’s so they should look nothing even remotely close to sun-dried tomatoes…
Your lentils should be almost done but you ought to still have enough time to finish the rest of your prep before then. Place the red onion in a decent sized mixing bowl and pour over the red wine vinegar and sprinkle some sea salt over it. Let it sit for a few minutes so that the onion softens up a bit.
When the lentils finish cooking, drain them in a sieve and transfer them to the bowl with the onions and mix them up while they are still warm. Also add the olive oil, garlic, and some salt and pepper.
Once the lentils have cooled down, add the herbs and mix it all up gently. Taste it and adjust the herbs or salt and pepper if you feel like it.
Watch Netflix while the tomatoes finish in the oven.
To pack it for lunch, create a big ole heap of the lentils in your container and then put as many tomatoes and as much gorgonzola as you feel like on top of them. For me this was a lot of both. Again enjoy at room temperature for maximum flavor.
Astound office coworkers at the water cooler with your incredibly beautiful roasted tomatoes AND your au current knowledge of the entire season of whatever it is you decided to binge last night.