Tomatoes before oven treatment:

After oven treatment:

I never thought I would admit this, but the words "shriveled" and "shrunken" appeal to me. In a tomato kind of way. When a sweet, ripe, meaty tomato takes some serious heat in an oven and comes away greatly reduced. With its essence concentrated in the shrunken flesh, and all the moisture evaporated, the whithered tomato becomes even more of itself. It's an oxymoron.

Decent tomatoes are starting to appear in markets and grocery stores and I am ready with my arsenal of tools: a roasting pan, fresh garlic, olive oil and thyme from the garden. I start with a fragrant Roma tomato and cut it into eighths. It then gets a bath in a glug of good, fruity olive oil, as well as a toss with chopped garlic, sprigs of thyme and salt and pepper to taste. It's already tasting good. Tomatoes like a hot oven, so don't be shy to crank yours to 425 F. Watch those babies darken and shrink. Give them a toss every 15 minutes or so to let the caramelization occur evenly and to prevent sticking. I say 45 minutes or so in the oven should render your tomatoes tender and soft, ready for the next stage in their lives.

Those of you who are fussy about tomato skins have a couple of options. You could peel the tomatoes before roasting by quickly immersing them in boiling water and then removing the skin. I do this though: I let them roast and cool and then quickly and easily pick off the pieces of shrivelled skin with my fingers.

You are now the proud owner of a pan of intensely aromatic roasted tomatoes. You may, of course, devour them on the spot. Standing at the oven. But do keep some for a magnificent pasta sauce. You can gently press them with a potato masher to futher soften the flesh and pair them with your favourite robust pasta, perhaps penne or fusili. Throw in some grated parmesan cheese, loosen with a bit of the pasta cooking water and call it dinner. I used roasted tomatoes as part of a melange of fillings for calzone last night, adding body and flavour to the mozzarella cheese, sauteed mushrooms, olives and roasted peppers they were accompanying. Grilled chicken breasts enjoy being slathered with a scattering of roasted tomatoes overtop as does a halibut steak. Omelettes filled with your withered wonders and little cubes of fresh mozzarella are a fine idea too. In a quiche, on a pizza, beside some garlicy shrimp, strewn over grilled sausages . . . . . . you get the idea.

The next time you see a nice looking tomato, treat it to some time in the oven.

More inspiration for putting tomatoes to good use:

Cippolini onions are not often seen in stores, so a sighting is a significant event for me. Cippolinis are delicate and sweet, small and savoury, lending themselves to caramelization in the oven and a bath in a bold sweet/sour agrodolce syrup. A large bag of cippolinis I just picked up at Costco was soon swimming in a fragrant pool of balsamic vinegar, olive oil and honey, augmented with chopped garlic and some perky peperoncino. Soon enough, the onions shrink down and the loose dressing boils down to fit a little more tightly around each orb, coating the onions with a thick, luscious glaze spiked with complex notes of acidic vinegar and vegetal sweetness. The aromas are absolutely intoxicating as this dish perfumes your kitchen with its heady scent.

I love to serve these onions hot from the oven with roasted meat or strewn alongside some hearty spaghetti Bolognese. The leftovers, cold from the fridge, are excellent in sandwiches of cold meat and cheese, or eaten on a plate with some dense country bread, dill pickles and an assortment of pates.

The first task is to peel the cippolinis. You can try your hand at doing this with the raw bulbs or give them a quick dip in a pot of boiling water to loosen the skins. Top and tail the onions and place them in a roasting pan that holds them snugly. Drizzle in a glug or two of extra-virgin olive oil, 2 or 3 glugs of balsamic vinegar and a couple of tablespoons of runny honey. Chop as much garlic as you like. I used about 6 large cloves for about 4 cups of onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste as well as a couple of large pinches of peperoncino. Toss everything together well and roast uncovered for about 45 minutes, turning every 12 minutes or so for even browning. If the mixture starts to look dry, add a couple of spoonfuls of water to the pan to prevent scorching. Final product: meltingly tender, golden knobs of sweet/sour/hot/salty onions, glazed and glistening in a thick, hot syrup. Serve hot, warm, cold or anything in between. These are fantastic any way you offer them. They keep very well in the fridge for at least a week.

Roasting is like magic. In goes something ordinary and out comes something extraordinary. Try your hand at more kitchen alchemy:

Warm, spicy, salty - want to know more? I have a snack for you with all those attributes, the humble chickpea kicked up a few notches. If you like to nibble on something fun with friends over drinks, or you wish to add some texture to a pureed soup, this one is for you. Roasted chickpeas work well as a salad component also, perhaps a visual and crunch enhancement to a middle eastern mix of chopped tomatoes, cuces and peppers, doused in a lemon juice/olive oil/ garlic infusion. Or, I can visualize these crunchy, toasty little nuggets sprinkled randomly throughout a Tunisian carrot salad, seductively scented with cumin and cinnamon and speckled with fresh chopped cilantro.

Start with a 15-ounce can of chickpeas and drain them well. Pat them dry with a paper towel. Put these chickpeas in a bowl and toss with a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, finely chopped fresh rosemary and a solid sprinkling of the Moroccan spice ras al hanout (you could substitute curry powder if you like). Feel free to include a large pinch of cayenne pepper for a friendly hit of heat. Place seasoned garbanzos in a single layer onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast in a 400 F oven, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes, until hot, browned and crisp. Serve with cold beer or cocktails. A silky pureed lentil soup garnished with a few of these babies will elevate your game.

Roasted chickpeas can be prepared a few hours before a party or a meal and reheated for 5 minutes at 400 F. With fibre, crunch, salt, spice and a comforting warmth, they will become a seductive quick and easy go-to snack.

There is no reason why you couldn't prepare this dish in a skillet, frying the drained, dried chickpeas in olive oil or butter with the spices and flavours of your choosing. Flavour ideas: chopped garlic, orange zest, Mexican chile powder, fresh grated ginger, lime juice. Select your theme and fry the chickpeas over medium heat until golden and crisp.

Looking for more fun nibbles to indulge in over drinks?