Raw Tomato Pasta Sauce

Tomatoes are so, so good right now, I'm eating them as much as possible. I usually make raw tomato sauce like this, but this time I took one big tomato and grated half of it on a box grater and chopped up the other half. The shredded part makes a nice, juicy base. I added some olive oil, a capful of balsamic vinegar, a drizzle of honey, fresh pepper, a big pinch of red pepper flakes, one grated garlic clove, and some basil. Mix it all up and let it sit for 10 minutes to a couple of hours. 

Tomato, Watermelon, and Feta Salad

I had tomatoes and watermelon and thought they would make a great, light summer salad with a little feta to add saltiness and some dukkah for some extra flavor. This was super refreshing and light and would be perfect for a hot weather lunch.

Ingredients:

Ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced

watermelon, rind removed and thinly sliced

red wine vinegar

balsamic reduction

olive oil

salt

feta

dukkah*

May 16 - Vegetable Garden Week 7

Everything is growing! It's so nice to have radishes because we've already gotten to harvest a few and eat them. This is great because most things (tomatoes, beans, eggplants, cucumbers, etc) won't be ready for a few months. We put down mulch to try to keep down weeds and hold in moisture (we didn't do it last year) so hopefully that will make life easier in the long run.

Spicy Tomato Soup

This is a nice and cheap soup, and really easy. Great novice soup recipe (I'm looking at you, Alice!) I love Barbara Lynch and saw the recipe on Food52 and had to try it. Yum! It's very simple but really nice, especially with a gooey grilled cheese.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 big tsp red pepper flakes (or more or less, depending how spicy you want it)

1 1/2 cups water

2 28oz cans whole tomatoes with their juices

salt and pepper

big handfull of basil

Tomato, Chard, and Goat Cheese Tart

I was drooling over this recipe on the Times and couldn't wait to try it with my tomatoes. Due to time restraints and some fresh swiss chard I had, I switched it up a little by adding sauteed swiss chard and onion and doing it in a frozen pie crust I had in my freezer. While I'm sure it tastes better with the olive oil pastry, this was pretty delicious. Served it with a salad full of more tomatoes. It was great and light, and I love the combination of savory tarts and salads in the summer.

Ingredients:
1 large bunch swiss chard, chopped, stems and leaves separated
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
olive oil
frozen pie crust

Healthy Bruschetta

I was planning on making this tomato tart for Jamie last night, but wanted to use even more of our tomatoes as a little hors d'oeuvres. We've been making a lot of pico de gayo, so I wanted something similar but maybe more Mediterranean. I love tomato bruschetta, but didn't want the bread since we were going to have the tart. Solution? Endive! It was so tasty and fresh, and much healthier - though I do love those crunchy crostini, too... Definitely worth a try for a lighter hors d'oeuvres or snack. (And you can always swap in the crostini if you miss it!)

Ingredients:

2-3 large, ripe tomatoes (or a mix of 2 bigger tomatoes and a few colorful cherry tomatoes), seeded and diced

1 garlic clove, passed through a garlic press

1 large handful of basil leaves, chopped

1-2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt

black pepper to taste

endive

Directions:

Mix all of the ingredients (except endive) in a bowl and let it sit for at least an hour. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Tear the leaves of the endive individually and fill each with a scoop of the tomato mixture. Done! (If you're serving at a party, maybe put some lentils or something on the plate to hold them up - they can tip a little.)