Beer-Marinated Cherry Tomatoes
I can’t believe Labor Day Weekend is THIS weekend. GAH!
Per usual, I’m unprepared. These three-day weekends are always sneaking up on me. I guess when you work from home (and work 7 days a week most weeks), the days all kind of just blur together.
But have no fear! Because I have an easy and delicious recipe to help you celebrate the weekend. And hello, it has BEER in it, so that’s totally awesome in and of itself.
At any gathering, I can typically be found hovering over the appetizers, side dishes and desserts (oh and the cocktails, too). I can easily skip all the main dishes and be completely satisfied just grazing over the rest of the food items. If you’re a grazer too, then you’re definitely going to want to give my Beer-Marinated Cherry Tomatoes a try.
This recipe is a total breeze. Just quickly sautée some shallots and garlic in olive oil. Then stir in a couple pints of cherry tomatoes (I like to leave some whole and halve the rest), beer, vinegar and fresh herbs. And DONE! After letting the all the ingredients marinate together for an hour, you’re left with a batch of rich, flavorful tomatoes that you can use to top crunchy grilled bread, toss into green salads or pasta, serve alongside cheese and hummus, etc. The possibilities are endless! Anywhere you might use fresh tomatoes, you can use these Beer-Marinated Cherry Tomatoes!
Whenever I incorporate beer or wine into a recipe, I always tell people the best practice is to use something that you ACTUALLY like to drink. It will make your eating experience so much better. I chose Allagash Saison for this recipe. It’s relatively light, with both citrus and pepper undertones that I think pair really well with tomatoes. And, honestly, it just kind of reminds me of Summer (which is still is, by the way!). Try it if you can find it. Or use your favorite Summer-style beer. It’s all good!
I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Labor Day Weekend. And If you try out this recipe, give me a shout out and let me know. I’d love to hear about it!
Cheers,
Liz
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup minced shallot
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes (some halved, some whole)
- 1/4 cup beer
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, minced
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, warm the olive oil, shallot and garlic until fragrant, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Carefully add the cherry tomatoes, beer, red wine vinegar and salt to the warm olive oil mixture. Stir to coat the tomatoes in the liquid. Then add the basil and parsley, stirring gently to combine. Cover and let sit at room temperature for about 1 hour. Stir gently before using.
- The marinated tomatoes are best when enjoyed the same they are prepared. But they can be covered and stored in your refrigerator for 1-2 days, if necessary.
Summer Stone Fruit and Yogurt Breakfast Bowls with Hot Sauce-Honey and Nutty Granola
Guess what?
IT’S STILL SUMMER!
So just slooooow down with the pumpkin and (gasp!) peppermint.
Yup, totally saw peppermint products in the grocery store yesterday. Seriously. I died a little inside.
I know I sound like a broken record with this shit. And I’m trying very hard not to be too preachy about it. But can we please all just stop and enjoy Summer while it’s still ACTUALLY SUMMER!?!?
OK. Thanks for listening. I’m done now.
In celebration of late Summer, I’m digging into these Summer Stone Fruit and Yogurt Breakfast Bowls with Hot Sauce-Honey and Nutty Granola on the regular. The markets are currently full to the brim with multiple varieties of plums, nectarines, peaches and cherries. And that makes for a very happy Liz. But I know this bounty won’t last much longer, so I can’t help but buy them all and put them to good use in recipes just like this one. Which might be overkill (you can stick to just one or two varieties of stone fruit!), but I’m like a kid in a candy store when it comes to sweet, juicy fruits.
I love making my own granola at home when I have the time. And with stovetop versions, I pretty much ALWAYS have the time. Because they take only about 10 minutes to prepare. And they are easily customizable to whatever ingredients you happen to have on hand. This particular granola recipe was born out of one of my pre-vacation kitchen clean-out sessions. I love nuts. And at any given time, I have at least 8-10 different packages open and laying around. So in an effort to get rid of some of those, I dumped a bunch of nuts into my skillet with old-fashioned oats and a few other ingredients and VOILA – nutty granola was created! I typically buy unsalted nuts, so I’ve added salt to this recipe. But if you only have salted nuts, you might want to go easy on the additional salt.
But whatever you do, don’t go easy on the hot sauce-honey. Seriously, this stuff is so good and it pairs beautifully with the sweet stone fruits and cool, creamy yogurt. Don’t fear the heat!
Since the actual breakfast bowls themselves require so few ingredients, I thought I’d give my recommendations on brands. This post isn’t sponsored. I’m just sharing what I’m using and loving, in case you want to do the same. For the hot sauce-honey, I used Rigoni di Asiago Italian Mandarin Honey and Cholula Chipotle Hot Sauce (I love the smokiness from the chipotle!). And for yogurt, I used Chobani Honey Whole Milk Greek Yogurt.
If you try out this recipe, please let me know. I’d love to hear about it! And tell me what other ways you’re savoring Summer this month!
Cheers,
Liz
Ingredients
- For the Nutty Granola
- 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup pistachios, roughly chopped
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/4 cup raw honey
- 1/2 cup dried coconut flakes
- For the Hot Sauce-Honey
- 1/4 cup raw honey
- 1 tsp. hot sauce
- For the Breakfast Bowls
- Greek yogurt
- Stone fruit, pitted and sliced
- Fresh mint leaves
Instructions
- In a dry non-stick skillet over medium heat, combine the oats, nuts, cinnamon and salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is fragrant and toasty, about 4-5 minutes. Add the coconut oil and honey to the skillet, stirring to make sure everything is evenly coated, and cook for about 2 minutes more. Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in the coconut flakes. Then scrape the granola out onto a parchment paper-line baking sheet to cool. Once fully cooled, the granola can be used or transferred to an airtight container for storage.
- Stir together the honey and the hot sauce. Set aside.
- To assemble the breakfast bowls, add yogurt and sliced stone fruit to a bowl. Top with some of the granola, a drizzle of hot sauce-honey and a few fresh mint leaves. Enjoy immediately.
