Be the boss of your summer harvest by keeping it simple.
I never liked raw tomatoes as a child. But after eating fresh-picked tomatoes in the heat of summer I have realized this is an entirely different product than one purchased in the spring.
Unfortunately, tomatoes have become ubiquitous in grocery stores 365 days a year.
Tomatoes are technically ripe after they show a small red spot on the skin. Because they are still firm, they are picked, sorted, and packaged by machines into perfect square boxes with their equally sized neighbors.
The tomatoes that are in the store, even the “vine-ripe” ones, don’t have to be all red when harvested. Seed manufacturers breed them to have thick skins, so they survive the packaging process.
I can only recommend eating tomatoes purchased straight from the farm, the farmers’ market, farmer, or growing them yourself. After you eat enough truly ripe tomatoes, you will stop buying them out of season.
Preparation
A ripe tomato needs minimal effort. I do recommend a sprinkle of salt and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil or a piece of bacon, whichever way you choose.
To make your work easier, use a sharp knife to cut them. If your knives are dull, try using a serrated bread knife.
The Simplest Recipes
Tomatoes blend well with onion, garlic, and fresh herbs, then add acid and salt to balance the flavors. This essential combination becomes two of the best tomato recipes, Pico de Gallo served with tortilla chips, and it’s Italian compliment a tomato and basil salad with bruschetta.
Pico de Gallo
- 3–4 large tomatoes, diced small
- ½ cup red or white onion, finely diced
- 1–2 hot peppers, finely diced
- 3–4 tablespoons cilantro, coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Combine all ingredients and let sit for 15–20 minutes before serving, if possible.
Tomato-Basil Bruschetta
- 1 baguette, sliced into ¼ inch rounds
- 2–3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3–4 large tomatoes, diced small
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3–4 tablespoons basil, sliced
- 1 teaspoon wine or balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Preheat the broiler to high. Drizzle the olive oil onto the baguette slices. Toast the baguette under the broiler, until very lightly colored, flipping once to brown each side. Remove from the oven and set aside. Combine the remaining ingredients and top each toasted baguette slice with a spoonful of the tomato-basil mixture.
Gazpacho Recipe
I eat this cold soup for lunch throughout the summer. I call it a salad smoothie because it is like you blended up your salad. No recipe is easier. Make it ahead and shake it up before serving. After eating this, you will feel like you just swallowed all of your day’s vegetable requirements.
The traditional method from Spain uses old bread, which I included. Also, please note that Gazpacho isn’t going to be red; it is a shade of pink-salmon. Many recipes add tomato paste, to alter the color.
Gazpacho
- 3 large tomatoes, core removed
- 2 small bell peppers, seeds and stem removed
- ¼ cup onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 small cucumber
- 1 jalapeno pepper (optional)
- ½ cup French or sourdough bread cubes (optional)
- ¼ cup almonds
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2–3 teaspoons wine or cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup of water
Combine all ingredients in a blender, mix until liquefied. Chill if desired and serve. This will make about 20–24 ounces, enough for 2 to 3 8-ounce servings. If you need more, feel free to increase ingredients to your taste.
Tomato Jam Recipe
Tomato jam is not what you think. It is sweet, but the savory flavors of garlic and tomatoes blend to make a perfect appetizer with goat cheese and crackers or serve it on slices of toasted baguette, instead of fresh tomatoes and basil. You can make it ahead of time and use up the fruit that is ready for the freezer.
Oven Roasted Tomato Jam (adapted from thekitchn.com)
- 8–10 ripe tomatoes
- 5–6 large cloves of garlic, sliced
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small cinnamon stick or ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Heat the oven to 325°F. Line a 9×13 baking pan with aluminum foil. Remove the core from the tomato, cut into quarters, and spread in the pan. Mix in the garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and cinnamon stick. Bake at 325°F for about 3 hours, or until the tomatoes are very soft. Then, increase the oven’s heat to 450°F and roast for another hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Remove the cinnamon stick and mash to an even consistency, if necessary, and serve on crackers or toast with goat or cream cheese.
Preserving Tomatoes
Even though I have never been a super-fan of raw tomatoes, I use cooked tomatoes throughout the winter, and I like to have them on hand.
In the summer, when the garden moves fast, the easiest way to deal with the ripe tomatoes that you can’t eat is to cut out the core and freeze them whole. Then, when you have a pot-full, you can thaw them out and process them.
Enjoy them at their best
The popularity of fresh tomatoes has made them available year-round. Except for their red color, there is little regard for the quality produced.
If you like raw tomatoes, eat them at their peak, and if you don’t like raw tomatoes, try them fresh from the garden when the opportunity arises.
If I could ban fresh tomatoes in the winter, I would do it. But instead, all I can suggest is to eat as many as you can in the late summer and eventually you will stop enjoying them in the offseason.