Roasted Sun Dried Tomatoes

September 30, 2023October 10, 202320 Comments

I am a firm believer in the power of a roasted vegetable. Not only can virtually every vegetable be cooked in this way — no recipe required — but roasted vegetables are also universally pleasurable to eat. Have a picky eater in the house? Roasted sun dried tomatoes tantalize your taste buds. Roasted tomatoes on your pizza with feta and spinach is a treat! YUMMMM!

Air Fryer Wins!

I dehydrated my tomatoes in the oven and in the air fryer. The air fryer won out in clolor and in flavour. No oil added. I did add olive oil and garlic with herbs as I jarred my sun dried tomatoes. When I say sun dried it is definitely my artificial sun from the air fryer! Like many other cooking methods, air-frying triggers a chemical reaction — the Maillard effectTrusted Source — that improves the color and flavor of air-fried food.

Oven dried Roma tomatoes, and in “sur la table” air fryer. My air fryer looks like a toaster oven. I want to see inside. The air fryer resulted in brighter and tastier tomatoes. So pleasantly surprised! From this picture I let the tomatoes sit longer in the air fryer. They got smaller and crispier. But, stayed a bright red.

Follow the temperature and times suggested by your dehydrator. It may take up to 8 hours in the dehydrator – to dehydrate the tomatoes to the right consistency.

TIPS For Best Results

Use about 3 lbs of tomatoes (or more) It varies. Follow these instructions to get optimum results

Try sprinkling the tomatoes with other herbs that you may prefer, such as rosemary or thyme.
Be careful not to over-dry the tomatoes. They should still be somewhat pliable and have a chewy texture.
You might also consider adding a tablespoon of lemon juice or white wine vinegar to each jar prior to sealing them. The acid helps to preserve them even further.
To avoid spoilage for longer storage, don’t add garlic.
Sun-dried tomatoes should last a month or more when refrigerated.

I put my sun dried tomatoes on pizzas, sandwiches, burgers and salad. Feta cheese is a must in the salad and pizza. These two flavors really pop together.

There is a Tomato Land at Flavor Town!

Pizza with Spinach and Sun Dried Tomatoes

August 11, 2020August 11, 202013 Comments

THIN CRUST SPINACH & SUN DRIED TOMATOES PIZZA has become a staple in our home. Guilt-free pizza with only 1 g of carbs per slice. Lots of protein and full of flavor!

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INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 large clove of Garlic (Minced)
1 Prepared Thin Pizza Crust (12 Inch )
5 ounces of Spinach (Fresh and organic)
1/4 cup of Sun Dried Tomatoes (Re-hydrated ), cut in thin strips
4 ounces crumbled Feta Cheese
Ground Black Pepper (To Taste)

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oven to 450 degrees and place pizza pan pan or stone in the oven to heat. Use the middle rack. Steam sun dried tomatoes to hydrate. They should be ready after you have built the rest of the pizza.
Heat Oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and cook on low for 1 minute (do not brown)
Add spinach and season with pepper. Cover and cook stirring once – just until spinach is wilted.
Top pizza crust with spinach and pan juices. Sprinkle on sun dried tomatoes and cheese
Make a circle from your parchment and place the pizza and parchment on your hot pizza pan or pizza stone. Bake in preheated oven ( 450 Degrees oven ) for 8-10 minutes

SUN DRIED TOMATOES
Trending sun dried tomatoes! How do I sun dry my own tomatoes – in the oven? please click here. My home made sun dried tomatoes not only have a dollar savings but it does not include any preservatives and is only handled by myself. Note: You do not need to add herbs when drying your tomatoes.

This is part of our theme on PLANT BASED DIETS. Lots of flavour and healthy goodness. I hope you enjoy our pizza.
BON APPETITE!
Some kids don’t like garlic. This can be omitted as you know.

Sun Dried Tomato Dip

April 10, 2015February 21, 2016Leave a comment

HEALTHY ‘TASTY’ DIP
Now that you have made your decorated goat cheese, you can make a tasty and healthy dip to serve with it. The dip is very versatile.This dip is great with crudités or crackers, on sandwiches, or with cold meats. It can be made a day or two in advance and served at your chalet, lake house, sailboat or right at home. People always enjoy this combination goat cheese /sun dried tomato spread. This pairing pops with flavour and is a big hit with my friends. I am often asked where I bought it! Instead of crackers or I prefer sourdough baguette slices. Crisp and tasty. Although crackers have evolved to gluten free and no preservatives which you can buy at your local supermarket. I find that most of these healthy crackers are very flavourful and will change the taste of my goat cheese / sun dried tomato dip. Over my years of reading about healthy foods, I would always come across the information that with respect to bread, we should eat rye bread or sour dough. I was puzzled by the sour dough as it was white bread after all. Then one day I came across some information that explained it.

RECIPE
Ingredients
1 package (3 1/2 oz) sun dried tomatoes
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves
1/4 cup loosely packed flat leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves peeled
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar substitute (optional)
1 green onion coarsely chopped including green tops

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Use the pulse feature until everything is chopped to a coarse consistency not liquid. Refrigerate until needed. The flavour is even better the next day. Serve at room temperature over goat cheese with toasts or crackers.

This is a tasty dip and will keep in your fridge for 7 to 10 days, limited only by the freshness of the herbs. You can then make this in advance or use up the left overs as a salad dressing, to toss your vegetables and some more olive before roasting or add to a soup for more flavour. The addition of mayonnaise or buttermilk will transform any leftover dips into sauces or salad dressings.

EVENING OUT: I just brought the sun dried dip to a birthday party last night. I paired it with a goat cheese log rolled in herbs. There were herb crackers and whole wheat sourdough croutes. This was a big hit! People kept going back again and again for more. They were addictive. This was more popular than the smoked salmon platter!

FOOD FACT: The acid in the sourdough slows down the absorption of the bread. That is how the San Francisco gold miners were able to sustain themselves all day long with just a loaf of sourdough bread. Hence the San Francisco sour dough loafs. The flour/simple carbohydrate is broken down into sugar which starts even in the mouth with salivary amylase and eating a slice of white bread is not so different than having a piece of pound cake as far as your body is concerned.

Do you want a piece of white bread? Then…eat sour dough bread. It is healthier!

Sun Dried Tomato Dip Recipe

February 26, 2015June 22, 2015Leave a comment

3/4 cup olive oi1
1 1/2 oz. re-hydrated sun dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)
2 tablespoons roasted red peppers
2 garlic cloves
2 sprigs Italian flat leaf parsley
5 basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 green onion

Place all ingredients in blender or food processor and blend to a course consistency. The flavour will be better the following day as they permeate the oil. Serve with goat cheese, crudities, crackers or on cold meats. Delicious!