Sometimes people ask me, “Is it hard to go vegan?”. They seemed baffled and amazed, presuming veganism is challenging and daunting at the same time. They would admire my work as “going the extra mile” to sustain my lifestyle. I was once in their shoes, so I rather not give them attitude and feel offended. Instead, I like to clarify that vegan cooking is not complicated.

One example showing vegan cooking is simple, is a dish called roasted tomatoes. All you need are tomatoes and some condiments and spices. To make the process even simpler, you could use a toaster oven instead of an oven and use only three pieces of tomatoes. After all, it’s not practical to use the oven and bake a whole bunch of tomatoes when you’re not feeding a party.

Just because it’s simple, it doesn’t have to be boring. My recipe calls for coconut vinegar instead of balsamic vinegar to change things a bit. Coconut vinegar has less sugar than balsamic so the recipe is good for those watching their sugar intake. The result is reminiscent to the Filipino tomato dish called “Pinangat“.

ROASTED TOMATOES WITH COCONUT VINEGAR:

INGREDIENTS:

3 roma tomatoes, thinly sliced horizontally

drizzle of Nuco coconut vinegar

drizzle of Nuco liquid coconut oil

1 clove of garlic, minced

pinch of salt

pinch of black pepper

few sprigs of rosemary leaves (you may also use thyme, bay leaves or basil)

DIRECTIONS:

Place the tomatoes on a baking dish and drizzle with oil and vinegar. Sprinkle the garlic, salt, and pepper. Add the rosemary leaves. Bake in a toaster oven at its highest setting (usually 450F) for 30-40 minutes. Be careful of drips. I usually use foil for an easy clean up.

You could enjoy the roasted tomatoes as side dish, snack, or appetizer. You could also chop the tomatoes to top on pasta and other noodle dishes. If you have tomatoes already in your pantry, this dish is incredibly simple and easy to make for vegans and non-vegans alike.

Note: The awesome folks at Nuco Coconuts sent me their coconut products to try in my dishes. All views are my own. Nuco sources their coconuts from the Philippines and are sustainably-grown, organic, and fair-trade, improving the livelihood of Philippine coconut farmers. Learn more about Nuco’s products and its story on: nucoconut.com/nuco-story

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