Smashed Grape Tomato, Cilantro & Orange Coulis

This is another of those "necessity is the mother of invention" recipes.  And it turned out quite tasty. Although a "coulis" is, strictly speaking, a thick puree or sauce,  I let the ingredients cook way down and I did smash the tomatoes, somewhat pureeing them by hand.  But, I may be stretching it a bit by calling this a coulis, considering I did not, in fact, put it anywhere near a blender.  But hey, breaking the rules is half the fun!

My kid, who is beautiful, fickle, amazing and quite the connoisseur, was craving a little Mexican food.  I didn't quite find the time to make it to the store (you know how that goes) so I turned to the refrigerator to see what mamacita (we're feeling Mexican, can  you handle it?) could whip up.

To start I thought I'd make a little something to go along with a simple quessadilla. Tomatoes?  Check.  Cilantro?  Check.  Lime?  Dammit.  No lime, but some gorgeous oranges, that'll do. Let's see what happens when we pop those in a pan and turn up the heat.   Here's the results...

Ingredients:

2 cups grape tomatoes

1/2 red onion - diced

1 jalapeno - seeds removed and finely diced.  (optional, I left it out since it was for my kid-lette)

1 clove garlic - minced (or put through a garlic press, we're easy here folks.)

1/2 cup cilantro

Juice of 1 orange

1/2 cup (or so) of chicken broth

Pinch (or two) of each:  oregano and cumin depending on your particular taste buds

Salt and pepper to taste
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Spray a pan with some non-stick cooking spray (or olive oil either will do fine)
Add the tomatoes (leave them whole) the onion, garlic, jalapeno if you are using it, and juice from 1/2 the orange. 
Cook over medium until the tomatoes begin to burst.
Add the rest of the orange, the chicken broth and seasonings.
Cook until all the tomatoes have burst and are quite soft and broken down (while they cook, I continue to mash them down with the back of a wooden spoon).
Check your seasonings and adjust accordingly.

I served the coulis with a simple cheese quessadilla and some beans that I doctored up with red onions, cumin, garlic, a little chicken broth, orange juice and s &  p.
If the clean plate my daughter left behind is any indication - it went over quite well.