The 10 Best Things to Do With Summer Tomatoes

Unfortunately it is winter in Australia. But soon we’ll have summer and you’ll be in snow again…. The down side is that seasonal recipes are not always seasonal.

A little late to the game, but this Charred Cherry Tomatoes with Cold Yogurt from Ottolenghi the very best! I roast a handful of cherry tomatoes in my toaster oven and eat with naan to make this a quick lunch.
https://houseandhome.com/recipe/yotam-ottolenghis-charred-cherry-tomatoes-cold-yogurt/

This one feels so Cup of Jo I feel like it’s been posted and I’ve missed it… but this one is SO EASY, delicious, healthy, vegetarian, a total hit with my whole fam (even the baby after a whirl in the blender):
https://smittenkitchen.com/2013/07/one-pan-farro-with-tomatoes/

Love these ideas! Always looking for new ways to make bright and delicious looking summer foods.

Love is a feeling….as you can see in the lovely candle glow pictures

Love is also a decision… when the argument escalates and the doors slam… but then the door opens with an I’m sorry and a pint of beer (his most of the time) or ice cream (mine most of the time).

Congratulations Joanna and Alex on continuing to make the decision to love. It is the best part of being human.

Just a plug for Vivian Howard’s PBS tv show, A Chefs Life. It’s so charming! The series followed her life and restaurant in rural North Carolina. I binge watched all the seasons this winter. It’s no longer free on Amazon prime but my library had the DVDs and you can watch it online at PBS for a small monthly membership (my member station rate was $5). Highly recommend the show!

I’ve probably made the peach/tomato/burrata/ hot sauce salad 5 times this summer. Sounds bizarre, tastes amazing!

I would add these: https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/cooking-tips/article/my-usual-please?changecurrentdate=true&date=2008/08/05 They are wonderful.

They seemed like an odd couple, tomato and melon, but I am in love with Joshua McFadden’s “Tomato, Melon, and Hot Pepper Salad” from his cookbook, “Six Seasons.” Best eaten the same day because the tomatoes do that gross thing tomatoes do after sitting, cut, in a salad. But it is so good that eating it in one day, or even one sitting, is no difficulty! This recipe (and the panzanella recipe) alone are worth buying the book! An adaption:
https://piedmontgrocery.com/tomato-chile-melon-salad/

I love the tomato pie inclusion. I’ve perfected my own recipe over time that’s a lot simpler, but I’m sure that one’s delicious! Our favorite tomato recipe right now is Bon Appetit’s tomato galette (https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/tomato-galette). However, dying to try epicurious’s tomato and cheese cobbler (https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/tomato-and-cheese-cobbler).

Money can’t buy love or good tomatoes. #truth That said, I’ve spent $$$ on tomatoes and made that Bon Appetit peach burrata tomato salad and it’s the bomb. People always ask for the recipe. Yum!

I am so sensitive to acidic foods but with a fist full of antacids, I’ll take one for the team while tomatoes are this good. I’ve been having: everything bagel, lightly toasted with a thick schmear of regular cream cheese, thick slices of tomatoes from the local market, and balsamic glaze.

Excuse me but you forgot gazpacho! :)

My favorite super fast and easy: cook pasta (penne, shells, something sturdy), toss with some olive oil. In a little skillet, saute chopped tomatoes and green onions in butter. Spoon some goat cheese into hot pasta, top with tomato butter mixture. Voila.

http://mynameisyeh.com/mynameisyeh/2016/8/everything-bagel-galettelettes-with-tomatoes-and-scallion-cream-cheese-and-look-i-updated-my-fashions

These only seem complicated or fussy, taste absolutely delicious and look so impressive. Also excellent with goat cheese instead of cream cheese, and can make two big ones instead of smaller ones

Could you do a post on how to deal with the weird, sad feeling at the end of summer? I don’t even like the heat and I didn’t even do anything fun this summer, but I still feel really bummed out. And judging by everyone’s wistful comments I don’t think I’m alone. Why’s this time of year so tough!?

We’ve had such an abundance of beautiful tomatoes in our CSA boxes this summer that I’ve been living off of open face tomato sandwiches for lunches and snacking on sweet grape tomatoes for weeks, and I’ll have it no other way.

I just picked a ridiculously ripe tomato off my backyard vine. Nothing better than biting into one still warm from the sun.

If you’re not putting peanut butter on one side of your BLT and the requisite mayo on the other, you’re truly missing out on one of life’s great joys.

Oops – sound, not sounds :-)

All of these ideas sounds so good. I’m sad that tomato season is almost over, but ready for fall too and an end to this heat…. Tomato sandwiches have been on repeat here just about every day for lunch (and sometimes breakfast!) and also, recently, a SPICY TOMATO BOURBON JAM that is so incredible I’ve made it twice. So then a garden-fresh tomato sandwich with that jam was even more amazing.

Today my phone won’t stop vibrating reminding me that the world is fucking nuts right now. The border. The children. Babies ripped from families. Title X. Planned Parenthood. It’s hard to not sob throughout the day.

Then for a moment, just for a mere breath… I go outside to the land of back sweat and unforgivable sun. There they are, my tomatoes. Waiting to be picked. Juicy, heirloom and most definitely five fucking dollars EACH at whole foods. I grew these tomatoes. Have I ever loved anything more than my tomatoes this summer?

No man will ever come close to this love. I have never watched the weather this much in my life. What percentage of rain will today be, or this weekend? I have 3 weather apps. I went out of town and my neighbour was there watering, loving on my tomatoes.

I think of my grandma during World War II. All those victory gardens. Maybe the victory was survival.

And perhaps the most wonderful way of all: eating a tomato right out of your hand. Pro-tip: lean over the sink for your first bite, and enjoy while no one else is around–the slurping is highly obnoxious and absolutely unavoidable, but incredibly satisfying.

Yummers! We made another noteworthy Serious Eats tomato recipe last night, proclaimed by my teenagers to be the best tomato sauce ever (we also added some ricotta – a trick I learned here on COJ!): https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/08/fast-easy-pasta-blistered-cherry-tomato-sauce-recipe.html

“Hey, that looks like J Kenji Lopez-Alt’s BLT. Hey that’s the article I talk about obsessively. Oh HEY that’s me!”

I hope that article brings COJ readers as much joy as it brings me.