Have you ever had grilled tomatoes? Grilling doesn't have to mean high heat, room temperature sides, and BBQ. Cooking ripe tomatoes can make for a great appetizer, side dish, or even topping for a main dish for a summer picnic or dinner. Ditch the green beans and tomato salad, because these roasted tomatoes will be the only veggie you want to make.
What Are Grilled Tomatoes?
This isn't rocket science, people. They're just tomatoes that have been cooked on a grill at medium-high heat.
In the video above, they grill tomatoes after having the tomato halves sit in a marinade that includes balsamic vinegar, black pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, salt (you could use kosher salt), and fresh herbs like fresh basil, oregano, or cilantro. For this method, the prep time isn't bad at all. You'll just have to leave time for cutting up the tomatoes and other ingredients as well as enough time to let the tomatoes soak in that marinade.
However, not all grilled tomato recipes call for all of that. You can also just season them and cook, cut side down, over a grill. When you serve them, you'll want to turn them cut side up and add a little oil and salt or pepper to them, along with basil or parmesan cheese or whatever else you think would pair well with the dish.
You can eat these with meat like steak or chicken, or have them over pasta. You could also throw them into a salad with other veggies like zucchini, avocado, and corn. In the video above, the cook adds them to a burger with fresh mozzarella cheese. Yum! Feta or ricotta cheese or garlic added would probably be delicious, too.
What Kind of Tomatoes Should You Use?
It seems like a lot of grilled tomato recipes use Roma tomatoes, but that's really up to you. If you want to attempt to grill cherry tomatoes or plum tomatoes, go for it!
As long as you use fresh tomatoes in your recipe, these should be a hit for any summertime meal.
