One
Tomato, Two Tomatoes, Three…
Actually I’m still waiting for the
one tomato from my garden. But that does
not prevent me from dreaming of the coming progressive bounty. Usually by the middle of August I have at least
a respectable crop of cherry tomatoes, but the weather this summer has set it’s
own time table.
The plants themselves seem to be
happy enough. The indeterminate
varieties are taller than I, with clusters of green tomatoes. Even the
determinate varieties and couple of the patio plants are shoulder high, but
only one is showing a barely perceptible tinge of yellow color. As you surmised
from the last couple of sentences, there are quite a few tomato plants in my
garden this year.
As many things happen at our house,
serendipity played a significant role in this. Early this spring I started
tomatoes from seed in the house, thinking that since our kittens have now
reached the respectable age of three, their adult behavior would NOT include raiding the seedlings as they emerged.
In attempting to avoid tomato blight, which had been a problem in some
previous years, the plan was to try several new resistant varieties both
cluster and slicing types. To make a long story short, we are now growing seven
varieties of tomatoes, two to three plants per variety. It really was not
gardener’s greed, just my inability to throw out perfectly good plants once
they started growing.
The rich and tangy sweet flavor of
garden grown tomatoes is best appreciated when using them fresh, especially at
the start of the season, before our taste buds get jaded from too much of a
good thing. A quick and easy fresh tomato salad arranged on a platter is
appealing to the eye as well as the palate.
Fresh tomato-basil
mozzarella salad
Layer slightly overlapping slices of
large tomato sliced about ½ inch thick on a platter edged with fresh basil
leaves. Decorate with black olives (preferably Niçoise), drizzle with some
olive oil and balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with pieces or small balls of fresh
mozzarella.
Fresh tomato slices also add extra
flavor and eye appeal to slices of breaded and lightly fried summer squash or
eggplant. With very little effort it is possible to turn these into an elegant
lunch presentation by topping them with coarsely grated cheese and putting them
briefly under the broiler.
A particularly appealing dish is
Italian ‘melanzane con gustaio’, which does not require a correct
pronunciation, but only works if you like anchovies.
‘Melanzane con
gustaio’
Slice a firm unpeeled eggplant in
1/3 inch slices. Salt the slices and allow to sit for about 15 minutes. Rinse
off the salt and pat dry. Fry the eggplant slices in several batches without
allowing the slices to touch, briefly in 2 T hot canola oil, turning once.
Drain on paper towels. Top with a slice of fresh ripe tomato and an anchovy,
well drained. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle lightly with chopped
parsley. Serve immediately.
Real tomato aficionados will find
many ways in which to feast on these delightful packets of sunburst flavor.
Grape and cherry tomatoes, red or yellow make excellent snacking bites, besides
being outstanding in a variety of salads. Their flavor goes well with pasta,
greens, lentils, garbanzos and even quinoa and bulgur wheat.
And sometimes, just a tomato open
faced sandwich on crusty buttered bread is enough to convince me of the joys of
summer!
(I. Winicov Harrington lives in Waldoboro and
is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the
Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)
