From Our Garden to the Dinner Table

We are back in the kitchen after a week or more of dining out. The garden is in full production,tomatoes are ripening and beginning to fall off the vines.  It was time to harvest some grape tomatoes and scour through the recipe binder to find something that highlights the tomatoes and that the kids would like.

It was also time to find something with a few fewer calories too.  After eating out for over a week I needed to cut back.  Cooking Light recipe to the rescue!  This one came from March of 2009 and is prepared each year when our tomatoes are in abundance.

We grilled up some chicken and sun dried tomato sausage and the side dish to this is recipe was fresh green beans from our garden as well.  When we first planted the seeds we only saw two plants come up.  So a couple of weeks later I planted more seeds and sure enough we saw about 8 more plants growing.  These are bush beans, which are low to the ground and with a lot of foliage to pick through.  The end result is delicious!  There is nothing more satisfying when you cook in the summer to use real home grown ingredients.

Tomato Ricotta Spaghetti

• 2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved (about 4 cups) 
• 5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) ricotta salata cheese, crumbled

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Place tomatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil; sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until tomatoes collapse.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain pasta in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/3 cup cooking liquid. Return pasta and reserved liquid to pan; stir in tomatoes, remaining 4 teaspoons oil, remaining 3/8 teaspoon salt, basil, pepper, and cheese. Toss well. Serve immediately.