Homey. Comforting. Sane.

There has been a lot of buzz over at the CLBB the past few days over a Lemon Lentil Soup with Spinach first posted by Alysha from The Savory Notebook. After last night's cooking debacle, this sounded like just the right thing to have for dinner tonight. Brightened with lemon and tomatoes, and redolent of garlic, this soup is loaded with antioxidants. To top it off, dinner would have been ready in less than half an hour if I hadn't been playing around with a Sara Moulton recipe for roasted cauliflower, then at the last minutes decided to make some Parmesan garlic bread wiith the leftover Roasted Garlic Cloves I made last night. Then, I decided to pull out the Oven-Roasted Tomatoes I also made last night, which I don't think I even mentioned in the rest of yesterday's saga. Then I sat down on the couch, with my husband on one side and two dogs begging for scraps on the other, and simply ate dinner. Aaah....bliss.

Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

Copyright 2006, The Stinking Rose Restaurant Cookbook

1 ½ pounds Roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees. Put the tomato halves in a bowl and toss with the olive oil, basil, and garlic to coat thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the tomatoes are shriveled to about two-thirds their original size; they should still be soft to the touch. Do not allow the edges to become crisp. Remove and let cool.

Use now, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Makes about 1 cup.

My notes: Although I cooked the tomatoes for almost two hours, they never did shrink down to 2/3 their size. They are very good, but I think the heat needs to be higher, and plan on a longer cooking time.