Sunday, June 7, 2009

Roasted Mushroom and Tomato Sandwich with Goat Cheese

Minnesota weather is so strange.  I just enjoyed a fabulous work week of nearly 80 degree weather, deep blue skies, and bright happy sunshine.  Textbook perfect.  The food that went with that week was also summery...(remember all those radishes?).

Then Saturday and Sunday brought rain, gloomy clouds, and cool weather in the 50's.  I was at a loss for what to cook, since summertime salads didn't seem to "go" with the temps.  To add insult to injury, today I received via email some gorgeous photos of a gorgeous couple in a gorgeous park in the coolest city I've ever visited - they were in their shorts and tanks enjoying a summer picnic.  I was momentarily so green with envy that I wallowed in some self-pity.  Then I decided I needed to be like Pollyanna and find something to be glad about in my situation.

When the weather turns chilly, the upside for me is that I can use my oven!  I decided to capitalize on this bad weather and roast some tomatoes and mushrooms.  This is halved cherry tomatoes (I think they're always good no matter what the season) and sliced crimini (or baby portobello) mushrooms, dried thyme, salt, pepper, and olive oil.


Roast in a 375 degree oven until they look like this:



I feel so sorry for my readers who don't like tomatoes or mushrooms (you know who you are!!!).  No lie...I could have eaten this whole pan.  I should have.  The only thing that stopped me was a selfish desire to eat them again tomorrow for lunch on a salad to see if they were as good the second day.  

I just spread some goat cheese on grilled bread and topped with the roasted mixture and made an open-faced sandwich.  This is the kind of sandwich that requires a knife and fork and goes great with a glass of white wine.


It was so good it made me temporarily forget about how jealous I am of those beautiful New Yorkers.

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