Cooking with leftovers

Got some leftover tomato salad from your super tasty home gown garden that you don't want to waste?  Cook it!

I made one such salad last week that consisted of cherry tomatoes, basil, salt and olive oil.  I stored the leftovers in the refrigerator to possibly eat them later, but salads just don't loos as appetizing the next day.  I was determined not to throw this salad away after I already put 5 months of hard work into growing the tomatoes.  

So, here is what I did.  Cut up some garlic and onions (as much as you want, and depending on how much you overestimated your guests' appetite- I used 2 cloves of garlic and about 1/8 of an onion, also a left over from something else), and heat some oil in a pan.  I use avocado oil for high heat cooking.

 

When the onions start turning translucent, pour in your salad and cook it!

 

As the tomatoes get cooked down, your sad tomato salad will turn into a super yummy tomato sauce.  At this point, you may want to taste your new creation and see if it needs more salt.

While your sauce is cooking, boil some water for the pasta.  If your sauce looks ready but you somehow forgot to cook the pasta in time, cover the sauce while you get your pasta ready so that it doesn't dry out.

This tomato sauce was one of the better ones.  I make different kinds of tomato sauces for pasta, and I gotta say that the sauce made from fresh tomatoes (especially from a heirloom variety) cannot compare to the one made from canned tomatoes.  Its just not the same.  So, go fresh!

This also makes great 2nd degree leftovers to take to work for lunch the next day.