Tomato Roses
will my plants be able to grow?
i bought 3 grow kits from the dollar section in target. i put them in pots and did all of that including watering it. i bought Tomatoes, roses. and forget me not. since it’s winter i’m keeping them inside. but we have little sun because it’s been snowing a lot. so I’ve been putting them under a lamp not dirrect but just so they have some light. i put them in the window when there is some sun but there rarely is. is this good for my plants?
depends on the lamps, most lamps will not be strong enough to grow any plants. the light that comes off of them is not enough.
just keep them in the window, if there small and your putting them under a lamp that isnt powerful enough, the plants will grow long and stringy.
Edit_
good trick to double up the sun! place your plants by the window, and scrunch some tin/aluminum foil into a sort of wall or mirror so it will be opposite the window right behind each pot/plant, when the sun hits it it should get the reflected light aswell! also stops the plants leaning or growing on one side.
Tomato Roses
Orecchiette with Shrimp in Sun Dried Tomato Sauce
My ultimate comfort food is a huge bowl of pasta with some kind of creamy sauce. In this dish, I puree sundried tomatoes with cream and a touch of ricotta for extra flavor and slight tang; the ricotta also helps thicken the sauce, but to cut back the richness I used half & half and part skim ricotta. The result resembles a light tomato cream sauce, but the additional flavor given by the sundried tomatoes takes it to another level. The addition of shrimp makes this more filling, while the spinach makes me feel slightly better about eating a cream and carb-laden dinner.
While using fresh shrimp would make this dish better, I always keep frozen shrimp on hand for last minute dishes I put together, like this. It’s great for guests, when you don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen but still want to put together a delicious, impressive meal, and for weeknight dinners when you don’t want to spend the whole evening cooking and cleaning. Not a shrimp lover? Sub diced chicken breasts instead.
Orecchiette with Shrimp in Sun Dried Tomato Sauce
Ingredients – Serves 4-6:
1 lb orecchiette pasta
1 tbsp olive oil, reserved from jar of sun dried tomatoes
½ lb medium shrimp, thawed if frozen
Zest of one lemon
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 large cloves garlic, minced
½ cup sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, roughly chopped
½ cup half & half
1-2 tablespoons ricotta
8 oz spinach, coarsely chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions in salted, boiling water. Drain, reserving ½ cup cooking water.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add in lemon zest, and allow to infuse for a few seconds. Then, add in shrimp and cook about 1-2 minutes per side, or until just cooked through. Remove shrimp to a plate
3. Reduce heat to medium, and add garlic and red pepper flakes to the pan and sauté for 1 minute. Add in sun dried tomatoes and sauté for 2 minutes, then pour in half and half and allow to simmer for two minutes.
4. Blend the sauce until smooth in a blender or with an immersion blender. Add sauce back to pan and add in 1 tbsp of ricotta, adding more if needed or to taste.
5. Add spinach into the sauce and cook until slightly wilted. Toss sauce with pasta and shrimp. Add in some of the reserved pasta cooking water if needed to loosen sauce. Serve immediately.
By: Jessica Verderame
Read more recipes at www.allmediany.com
About the Author
Jessica Verderame is a senior staff writer at AllMediaNY.com.
What would happen if you cross-bred a rose with a tomato?
I invented this, but I have no idea what would/could happen!
It wouldn’t happen…. They are different species. Species cannot interbreed.
Mastering Knife Skills – Making a Tomato Rose