8/26/08 Tomatoes

The CSA I belong to specializes in tomatoes. We’ve had heirlooms tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes. Been making a lot of pasta sauces with these tomatoes. We’ve also been lucky enough to try tomatoes from different people’s homegrown crops. So far this summer, our friend Mark has the best tomatoes. Jon and I went over for a BBQ, and he showed us all the fruits and veggies in the yard. I had garden envy.
At the end of the night, there was a huge stack of corn left over on the grill.
“You have to take some home.”
What am I going to do with all that corn? “OK, I’ll take some home but only if you give me a couple of tomatoes too.” Mark is a really good cook so he probably saw the idea bubble that was floating over my head.
He went off in the dark to pluck a few tomatoes. He came back with some large heirloom tomatoes. Score!
Best-tasting tomatoes of the season. Didn’t want to waste them on sauce, so the end product was a tomato-corn-avocado salad thing. Would’ve diced up a cucumber for crunch but didn’t have anything like that in the house. Didn’t need much dressing or anything else since the produce was so fresh.

Tomato Sauce for Pasta
Heat olive oil and saute diced onion until soft. Add minced garlic and saute until garlic starts to brown. Add diced tomatoes. Turn heat to high or medium high, and cook down tomatoes, about 15 mins. Turn heat down and slow cook on low for a bit more. Other veggies that can go in: zucchini, leeks (instead of onion), bell peppers, herbs (parsley, basil, oregano, whatever herb is growing on the windowsill – or outside in the courtyard in my case).




In the Veggie Box:
Arugula
Heirloom Tomatoes
Slicing Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Avocado
Purple Beans
Baby Bok Choy
Green Leaf Lettuce
Radishes
Oranges
Asian Pears
Red Onions