One morning a few weeks ago, a small circle of vivid red caught my eye as I was putting away my coffee cup and preparing to head to work.
I walked out onto my deck and twisted a perfectly ripe fruit off my patio tomato plant. For weeks, I'd been eyeing a cluster of green orbs like a child watches the sky on Christmas Eve.
I walked into the kitchen and sliced my prize into a few thick pieces.
Three minutes later, having eaten every last drip of tangy tomato pulp, I knew summer had arrived.
If you're a novice cook, or even view your oven as kitchen storage space, this is your season to shine.
Home gardens, farmers markets and roadside produce stands are bursting with robust fruits and vegetables. And they beat--hands down--any concoction you could create by throwing together dead ingredients from a winter cupboard.
In a world where waxy red balls are sold year-round in supermarkets under the label "tomato," it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that produce is seasonal.
The tastiest veggies are ones that have grown and ripened on vines and plants as near to your kitchen as possible.
Around here, the best time to look for the tastiest summer produce is right now.
Rod Parker, manager of the Northern Neck of Virginia Farmers Market on Kings Highway in Oak Grove, said about July 10 to Aug. 10 is the prime time for the "Big Four" summer produce items that make up the bulk of farm-stand sales: corn, cantaloupes, watermelons and tomatoes.
If you have a knife and a little cash to spend at a local farmers market, you can convince your friends you have some God-given gift for culinary magic.
And on these hot Southern days, the ability to make good food without turning on a 400-degree oven is a plus.
These are days when recipes are optional.
One of the best workday lunches I have ever had was a meal that found me. I used to live two blocks from The Free Lance-Star building and had the luxury of walking home for my midday meal.
One late-July day, I was strolling along, thinking of the peanut butter and stale bread awaiting me in my un-air-conditioned apartment, when a pile of bright orange tomatoes caught my eye at the William Street farmers market.
I picked up three small ones, chopped them in my phone booth-sized kitchen, tore up a few basil leaves from my back porch, drizzled on some olive oil and tossed in a few chunks of mozzarella cheese left over from another recipe.
Bliss.
If you're cooking for others, though, you might want something with a little more structure. Something you can give out as a recipe when people throw compliments your way.
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped 1 medium green bell pepper, cored, seeded and coarsely chopped 1 small onion, coarsely chopped cup parsley leaves2 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coarse- ly chopped1 cup tomato juice 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 minced garlic cloves 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced 2 teaspoons salt
Cook's note: This is chunky enough to serve as a salsa. If you want a more traditional salsa flavor, replace the vinegar with the juice of one lime, and the parsley with cilantro.
Procedure: Put the cucumber and bell pepper in a blender or food processor and finely chop, but do not puree. Move these to a large bowl. Chop the onion and parsley in the food processor and add to the bowl. Then chop the tomatoes in the food processor and add these to the bowl. Add the tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, jalapeño and salt. Stir well and refrigerate for at least two hours. Nice with a dollop of sour cream.
Recipe from: "Joy of Cooking," by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker
SPANISH HOST MOM'S SUMMER VEGGIE SALAD
Prep time: less than 30 minutes Makes 4-6 servings
1 cucumber1 green bell pepper1 sweet onion4 large tomatoes juice of half a lemon 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 jalapeño pepper or other hot pepper (optional) 2 teaspoons salt 4 hard-boiled eggs (optional or use one egg per serving)
Procedure: Peel and halve the cucumber and scoop out the seeds, then dice the halves. Seed and dice the bell pepper and dice the onion and tomatoes. Seed and dice the hot pepper, if using. Throw all the vegetables together in a bowl. Dress with the lemon juice, olive oil and salt. Add the hard-boiled eggs whole, if using.
Recipe from: A family table in Sevilla, Spain
OK, so you have to turn on your stovetop for this, but it's easy, I swear.
Boil a pot of water big enough to dunk a few tomatoes. Also have a bowl of ice water nearby.
Cut shallow Xs into the bottom of your tomatoes. You're really just trying to pierce the skin to make peeling easier.
Dunk tomatoes in the boiling water for about 15 seconds. Take them out and put them in the ice water. This will stop them from cooking and make them easier to handle.
The hot bath should have made the skin start to peel away at the Xs. You should be able to pull it off with your fingers. Use the tip of a knife if you have trouble getting it started.
--Emily Battle
Read more stories about Fredericksburg Date published: 7/16/2008
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