Day 116: Surprise! It's Vegetarian!

I normally do not feel satisfied if my dinner doesn't include some kind of animal protein.  Thus, the surprise that I made something totally vegetarian tonight - and it was hearty, filling, and delicious!

This dish was inspired by The Balboa Cafe, one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants.  The Bal has a pasta special each day.  Every day is different, but they often include roasted tomatoes.

This weekend I picked up a pint of "micro tomatoes" at Whole Foods.  I sampled one in the store and just couldn't resist the sweet juicy pop between my teeth.  The dish I made tonight featured those yummy tomatoes.

I pre-heated the oven to 375 and set a pot of water on the stove to boil.

Then, I laid the tomatoes out in a single layer in rectangular glass baking dish.  I drizzled them with a healthy dose of olive oil, sprinkled salt, ground pepper, and dried oregano over the top, and then tossed it together to make sure every tomato had been touched with the oil and seasonings.  Then I returned them to an even single layer and slipped the dish into the oven.  They baked until they started to burst - about 15 minutes for these little guys - but it will depend on how large the tomatoes are.

While the tomatoes are roasting and the pasta is cooking, I sauteed 4 cloves of finely minced garlic in olive oil over low heat.  If you like spicy food like I do, try this tip - while the oil is heating up, shake some red pepper flakes into the oil and allow their heat and flavor to infuse the oil.

Drain the pasta, reserving 3-4 tablespoons of the water it cooked in.  Return the pasta and the reserved water to the pot and gently mix in the tomatoes (and all of the juices/oil from the baking dish) and sauteed garlic.

Before serving, grate some parmesan and finely slice up some fresh basil leaves and sprinkle both over the top.  Delish!!!

It may sound involved, but this dish took less than 30 minutes from start to eating.  Add in the fact that it included yummy fresh produce and healthy whole wheat pasta and you have a dinner that you can be really proud of.  Enjoy!