Enjoy Summer’s Last Tomatoes

I think I remember what a real tomato tastes like.  However, it’s been so long since I had one that maybe it’s a dream.  My father occasionally came home from work with a bag of freshly picked tomatoes he’d bought at a roadside stand.  We would eat them like apples.  But those days are long gone.

Too Hot to Cook? Try Ratatouille!

Ratatouille with Brown Rice and Corn

Sometimes I forget that that I know how to make colorful vegetables dishes. It’s been awhile since I last prepared Ratatouille, an easy-to-eat French mixture of cooked eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers and tomatoes.

My friend Ilene found the recipe in our second book, “Help! My Apartment Has a Dining Room!” and cooked it for dinner the other night.  She wanted a vegetarian alternative to the hamburgers and fries she and her husband planned to eat the following night.

Mom Money-Saving Tip 86

If your cherry tomatoes taste sour, don’t throw them out.  Sauté them in a few tablespoons honey for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Serve as a side dish or bake them, as I did, as part of a tomato pie.

Is It Possible to Have Too Many Ripe Tomatoes?

Yes.  Too many ripe homegrown tomatoes on my kitchen counter can cause guilt, piggishness and extra work in general.  I can’t eat them all immediately.  Well, I could, but why should I be ruled by a tomato?

I could cook them up in soups, stir-fries, sauces and casseroles or make lots of salads.  I could haul out my Tomato Pie recipe. I could try canning them, but I have never canned anything.  I could experiment with drying them in the oven for use later.  I really should try that, but that seems too much like work.

Welcome Home, Real Tomatoes

Basil and Tomato Soup

I just read that tomatoes may be getting their flavor back!  This probably sounds odd to anyone under 30, who may well assume that tomatoes are used in salads and sandwiches mostly for their color.

Those who’ve eaten “heirloom tomatoes” may have some idea of the way this fruit—yes, tomatoes are a fruit--used to taste.  But even heirloom tomatoes—the name refers to tomatoes eaten in the good old days—don’t always taste very good.

Tomato Glut

Is it possible to have too many home-grown tomatoes?  If you asked me in December, I would say NO.  But in July, my answer is YES. We get big bags of ripe tomatoes all through the summer from our gardener friend Kenny, who doesn’t cook but can’t resist planting them every year. 

Nothing tastes better than a tomato picked ripe from a vine, but how many a day can you eat?  I’ve already confessed to making blueberry jam, but I don’t think I want to start canning tomatoes.  I’ve thought about oven-drying some, but plum tomatoes are best for that procedure.  The ones on my counter are big and round.  Better to use them in dishes where you can appreciate their flavor. 

If the tomatoes are ripe and still firm,

Stuffing a Tomato

When I was growing up in Pennsylvania, fresh tomatoes were for eating whole or cut up in salads.  Somehow cooking them didn’t occur to my mother.  If she wanted tomato sauce, she opened a can or she used ketchup. 

Imagine my surprise when I went to Greece as a high school exchange student and had my first Stuffed Tomato.  Everything about it was exotic—the herbs and spices, the crunchy breadcrumbs on top drizzled with something called olive oil? 

Okay, I was 16 and pretty ignorant about cooking, but that summer in Greece changed everything.  For one thing, I gained 15 pounds because I liked the food so much.  More importantly, I realized that I could have an impact on what I ate.  If I wanted a Stuffed Tomato, a Stuffed Grape Leaf or some Taramasalata (a Greek dip made from fish roe), I could learn to make it myself.

Hominy: What Is It and How Do I Cook It?

My first encounter with hominy was in a California supermarket.  A store employee was offering samples of Pozole, a traditional Mexican stew, and stacked on the table were cans of hominy.  The picture on the label showed large kernels of corn, so large that they could have been on steroids.  They tasted like corn, only more so. 

Hominy on the left, Corn on the right

Is hominy a new vegetable?  No.  Here’s how corn transforms into hominy: dried corn kernels are soaked in an alkaline solution, and that process causes the kernels to swell.  You can buy hominy in ready-to-eat form in cans or you can buy it dried in bags.

I bought a can and added a cup of hominy to homemade vegetable soup.  It was definitely a conversation-starter.

Who Can Resist a Recipe Called Shakshuka?

Not me.  When I recently saw a New York Times recipe for this Middle Eastern dish, which I’d never heard of, I was intrigued.  A few hours later I opened my daily email from The Guardian, a British newspaper, and what should be featured but a big story about Shakshuka.

Popular for breakfast in Israel, Shakshuka may have an exotic name but

Can Eating Tomatoes Make You Smarter?

Photo by Andy Mills

There’s no real proof that this is true, but here’s how I see it.  If you’re eating tomatoes, you’re not eating something else that could be bad for you.  And tomatoes are certainly good for you.  Food experts call them “a nutrient-dense, super-food.”

Medical News Today says, “Tomatoes are a rich source of vitamins A and C and folic acid. Tomatoes contain a wide array of beneficial nutrients and antioxidants, including alpha-lipoic acid, lycopene, choline, folic acid, beta-carotene and lutein.”

Sounds impressive, but the bottom line to me is the taste.  Summer dinners during my Pennsylvania childhood were almost palatable because of homegrown tomatoes served on the side.

Enjoying Someone Else’s Pantry Leftovers

Tabouli Salad (photo by Andy Mills)

Some of my most exciting new food finds arrive on my doorstep when friends move away and give me their pantry leftovers. I love using up their harissa paste, balsamic vinegar and exotic dried mushrooms because I’m forced to be creative. 

Thanks to my friend Lucien, who has a very healthy diet, I now know about organic freekeh. It’s an ancient toasted grain with a nutty flavor and lots of protein. It’s also fun to say. Before Lucien returned to London, he gave me a bag of freekeh, along with some spelt spaghetti, red bulgur wheat, low sodium garbanzo beans in a box, Vietnamese cinnamon and Madagascar chocolate.

Soup As a Meal

Bean, Vegetable and Sausage Soup (photo by Andy Mills)

I used to associate soup with being sick.  I’d be lying in bed, and my grandmother would bring me a bowl of homemade chicken soup.  I’d slurp it up and feel better.

Actually, I think this is a false memory.  My grandmother lived too far away to bring me soup, although whenever we visited her chicken soup was invariably on the menu.