Every Way to Eat a Tomato Before the End of the Season

I love berries as much as other people, but the real reason for the sunny season is tomatoes . This vine jewelry has so much to offer, and sometimes I am amazed at all the potential deliciousness. Here are some of the best ways to eat this delicious, sweet and savory fruit to get the most out of the season.

Treat yourself to bread bliss with sandwiches and toast

Putting tomatoes on a sandwich is painfully obvious, but I’m not really suggesting that. I suggest you make tomato sandwiches , a deceptively simple and highly underrated lunch. The problem with tomato sandwiches is that people put too many non-tomato things on them. A tomato sandwich has four ingredients: bread, tomato, mayonnaise, and salt. I know some pagans who use the miracle whip. I know a few rebels who push pepper there.

When it comes to eating and eating, I tend to be of the “you do it” type, but this is one of the topics I stick with as a purist. The key to a good tomato sandwich is tomatoes . If you don’t have a good tomato, make another sandwich. Conversely, if you have a good tomato, don’t add ingredients that hide its divine splendor. Don’t add cheese. Don’t add dull salad. Choose plain bread without distracting it from the seeds or grains. I recommend white sandwich bread.

As far as “good tomatoes” are concerned, I recommend that you buy them from a farmers market, a friend’s garden, or an actual farm, and I recommend that you smell them. If they don’t have that characteristic, slightly woody, sweet scent that makes your brain scream THIS SUMMER, leave it behind. They should also be fairly firm and heavy with a light touch, but don’t squeeze them too hard, it’s pretty rough.

With toast you have a little more leeway since the “toast” can be whatever you want, the only rules are that the bread must be toasted and you must post a picture of it on Instagram. There are actually endless ways to make tomato toast, but I’ll try to focus on a few basic categories.

I’m sure you all know about bruschetta, but there are other ways to add tomatoes to toasted bread. (But we’ll start with the bruschetta, because it’s pretty darn good.) If you want something warmer and more soothing, you can heat a little to add even more sweetness to the tomatoes. (This is a good use for those tomatoes that aren’t quite sandwich-worthy.) Here are some interesting ideas:

• Make a bruschetta. Like all other truly great tomato recipes, bruschetta is best kept simple. Break the tomatoes up to your liking – you can simply split the tomatoes in half, or puree the larger ones in a food processor – and mix with olive oil, a little vinegar, garlic, and possibly basil. Spread some crostini and eat until you are full. (Extra point if you rub garlic with tomatoes.)
• Nice crunchy bread with fresh goat cheese and cherry tomatoes fried in olive oil. Bonus points if you sprinkle a small amount of maple syrup before how to throw them in the oven, as it does Epicurious .
• Whole wheat croutons with good brown mustard, ham or turkey, Swiss and thick tomato slices, made by a broiler with bubbles and shiny. Place an egg on top if you are a crazy man / woman.
• Sprinkle the cheddar and tomato slice on top of the English muffin. Fry it. Fry some bacon and toss in it. I wonder why you don’t eat this every damn day?
• Keep this very simple and saute the cherry tomatoes or plum halves until they bubble and melt. Take a baguette, cut it in half and brush with garlic oil. Toast it and spread the fried tomatoes on top. Hedonists can add fresh mozzarella or basil, but this is not necessary.

As you can see, there are many options for putting tomatoes on the bread, but I still think the best is the deceptively simple tomato sandwich.

Convert your assets to a reservoir

I like to chew tomatoes, but I also like to drink and swallow them in liquid form. Sauces, soups, salsa and Bloody Marys are some of my favorite ways to eat tomatoes. Let’s start with the sauce.

Sauces

There is no shortage of tomato sauce recipes and they vary greatly in complexity. The easiest one is just a tomato grated in half, grated to the skin . Add some garlic and basil to the sweet pulp and stir in hot pasta for a super crisp dish. (Oh, and don’t throw away those skins. Use them to prolong the summer mood by making tomato salt .)

With a little more effort, we got this pasta in one pot, where everything – pasta, tomatoes, cooking water, onions, garlic, oil and herbs – is poured into the pot and cooked until it becomes the perfect dinner pot.

The key here is not to add too much water (you will need 4 ½ cups for every 12 ounces of pasta and 12 ounces of cherry tomatoes) so as not to dilute the starch oozing out of the pasta, which is the secret to doing the whole operation together.

Soups

Even more liquefied, we have tomato soups, broths and water. With what some call “shocking,” you can make a creamy, dreamy pot of tomato soup in about an hour without opening a single can. Although I deviate from it constantly, I use Queen Ina Garten’s recipe as a template, starting with a ratio of 3 cups broth and ¾ cup cream to 5 large tomatoes. After that, you just need to add the broth and chopped tomatoes to the fried vegetables and garlic, let them simmer for about 40 minutes, then add the cream and strain.

If the hot, thick bowl of creamy tomato soup is a little warm at this time of year, broth may be better for you.

Tomato broth is not only versatile (use it like any other broth) and filled with kindness of minds, but it’s also very easy to make. Just cut the tomato into cubes and mix with an equal amount of water. Bring to a boil and let it brew a little (half an hour is enough). You can strain the tomato slices for a light and vibrant broth, or chop the whole thing with a hand blender for a richer and more flavorful broth.

Of course, we cannot forget gazpacho, the emperor of summer soups, which is very easy to prepare. Start with a couple of pounds of tomatoes, cucumber, and olive oil ( The Kitchn recommends every 2 pounds of cups ). Add garlic, pepper, vinegar, and whatever else you think tastes good in a cold bowl with a refreshing savory soup. Mix it all up and consume. (Alternatively, you can feed it through a food mill for a super smooth consistency, but who has time?)

If you want to get even lighter, tomato water is ideal for those specimens that are just a little out of their prime. Simply chop them up, toss them in a food processor or blender with a little salt (a teaspoon for six medium tomatoes) and strain through a coffee-filter sieve overnight. This great liquid is now ready to be added to cold salads (chicken, tuna, potatoes, pasta: all right), as a decoction liquid, or in savory martinis.

Speaking of tomatoes and booze, I dare say that (other than the tomato sandwich) there is no higher requirement for a tomato than Bloody Mary. To make my own super-fresh mix, I humbly suggest my technique:

1. Grind 2 ½ lb chopped fresh tomatoes with ½ lb chopped peeled cucumbers.
2. Strain and mix with 2 ½ cups of your favorite pickled juice (Clausen, tbqh), 4 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce, 4 teaspoons of prepared horseradish, and the juice of 2 lemons.
3. Pour into one of those IKEA glass bottles and shake, shake, shake. Enjoy your favorite drink for 24 hours, adding hot sauce if you’re one of those spice hunters. If you want a thicker mixture, replace the pickled juice with mashed pickles.

Once you’ve done that, take a look at our guide to building the best Bloody Mary bar and make yourself a side dish.

You can win friends with salad

I add tomatoes to just about every garden salad I eat, but my favorites are the ones in which the tomatoes, rather than the leaves, are the star of the show. My main compressions:

• Caprese : When it comes to salads with tomatoes, caprese is king. Nearly all types of tomatoes work well here, but the best move you could probably make is to mix different shapes, sizes and colors to create a blend of excellent tomato flavor, as suggested by J. Kenji Lopez Alt of Serious Eats . From there, grab some good mozzarella, some fresh basil, and some high quality olive oil for a drizzle. This is followed by good flaked salt and some freshly ground pepper. I like a little balsamic to add acidity, although Kenji disapproves of this, as he very strongly feels that this substance masks the taste of tomatoes.
• Panzanella : Okay, technically bread is the star of this salad, but tomatoes come second. For this summertime yet hearty dish, cut stale bread into cubes and toss it into cast iron with a little olive oil and fresh herbs. Once your famous croutons are colored, chop the tomatoes and toss them into a large bowl of bread. Drizzle with olive oil and select add-ons. I love some hard-boiled eggs, some thinly sliced ​​red onions, some fresh meat and capers. Season with salt and pepper, add a little lemon juice or vinegar and eat.
• Tomato Crowns : Yes, it’s the best in retro kitsch cuisine, but how can you get mad at a great tomato stuffed with a great chicken or tuna salad? To prepare the tomato for a good filling, cut off the top with a serrated knife and carefully cut off the edge where the dense flesh covers the gel. Gently scoop out the insides, being careful not to damage the skin (a grapefruit spoon is best for this). Salt the insides to drain the liquid and let them drain upside down for half an hour or so. (This will prevent the juice from spilling into the salad and make it runny and watery.) Add chicken, tuna, or any other mayonnaise-based ( or tahini-based salad ! ) Of your choice.

Try these other delicious dishes

There are other uses for tomatoes that don’t necessarily fall into the categories above, but are still tasty enough to be mentioned and eaten.

• Roasted Tomatoes : Roasted green tomatoes are a staple in the South for good reason. They are great on their own, as an appetizer or side dish, or as a sandwich like the BLT superbomb. To make them, dip the slices in a little flour and dip in a simple egg wash (½ cup milk + 2 eggs). Rub them through a few seasoned bread crumbs ( maybe zest ?) And sauté them in oil (or bacon fat) over medium heat until they are brown and crispy on both sides.
• Tomato Pickles : If you’ve eaten your fair share of the roast but still have a surplus of green tomatoes (and don’t want to wait for them to ripen), you can make hot green tomato pickles. You can use this recipe from the New York Times, or salt them quickly using equal parts vinegar to water and four times the sugar to salt ratio (start with two tablespoons of salt and half a glass of sugar, and increase as needed.)
• Tomato Pie : Sweet pies, especially those with a high vegetable content, don’t get enough fame, and tomato pie is great. Since I’m from the South, I prefer a cheese and mayonnaise pie like this one from Epicurious .
• Tomato Vinaigrette : If you have 3 or 4 tomatoes that have become a little soft, turn them into a super-aromatic vinaigrette by passing them through a fine mesh sieve and collecting the juice. Pay attention to the amount of juice collected. Blanch a few oregano sprigs and mix with safflower oil. (You need a 50/50 mixture of juice and oil, so use the same amount of oil as you have juice.) Strain the oil through cheesecloth and whisk the juice. Season with salt and a couple tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar.

If you don’t want to do any of these, just slice them up and salt them for a super-light and super-delicious appetizer or side dish. Just don’t make ketchup yourself. In a world where Heinz is, homemade ketchup is rarely worth it.

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