Cherry Tomato Compote with Sweet Onion & Rosemary
THE PROOF IS ON THE DRESSING.
When Eric and I were just dating, we didn’t really have much. There were many evenings we wanted to go out and have a great restaurant meal, but just couldn’t afford it. I lived in a small, old apartment close to the downtown area and leased a pseudo sports car. I said “pseudo” sports car, because it really was 😀 And Eric… He swam in a sea of student debt.
Those nights, after a long day at work, we swung by the store and picked up a $5 rotisserie chicken. I made rice and grabbed some soy sauce out of my barely filled-in fridge. There we were sitting on a futon, watching Thursday night’s must see TV shows — a.k.a “Friends,” “Seinfeld” and “ER” marathon. (Yes, how dated!) Eating our roasted chicken on a bed of white rice, drizzled with soy sauce. Yes, those were the times we ‘splurged’. We felt like we were living it big: no ramen – no blue-boxed, overly orange-sauced mac ’n cheese – nor ‘private labeled’ spaghetti with bolognese-style sauce. Yes, being responsible truly hurts sometimes 😉
Guys, believe me those days still happen, except we choose to. We still grab rotisserie chicken and put it on a bed of rice or pasta. But most of of the time, ‘the dressing on the protein’ is what’s changed. Tonight, it’s a little fancier: Cherry tomato compote with sweet Spanish onion, shallots and rosemary. Believe me guys, it’s still so easy to make! Of course there’s no comparison to opening up your fridge, grabbing soy sauce & pouring it onto the chicken. But the pay-off, ah… so much bigger (and healthier, not to mention tastier!)
You can slap this compote on any type of protein. It’ll dress it up nicely. It almost makes you look like you’ve been spending some major quality time in the kitchen. From seafood (on salmon, mmh… hello!) to chicken. If you even have some left over, you can spoon that out of its container on to any style of eggs. Yum!
Friends, here’s to “lean” days. Here’s to being responsible. And here’s to choosing your dressing wisely! Cheers.
- 12 ounce sweet Spanish onion (about 1 large), peeled and thinly sliced
- 6 ounce shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 pound cherry tomatoes
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 sprigs rosemary leaves, minced
- Preheat the oven to 400°. Place onions and shallots on a quarter size rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. On a half sheet rimmed baking sheet, add tomatoes, gently coat with the remaining oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle vinegar and sprinkle minced rosemary on them. On a separate rack, roast onions, shallots and tomatoes for about 30 minutes, or until soft, browned, juicy and tomatoes skins are wrinkled.
- Tent the baking sheets to keep the produce warm with aluminum foil and wait for 10 minutes before serving. This compote will be good to serve with any kind of protein.
