Tomato Overload
It has been a while since my last post but that is because I have been so very busy enjoying Vancouver in the summertime. I was told it would be lovely, but admittedly I was not quite expecting it to be this perfect. But for the last few days of unacceptable summer temperatures( < 70F), this heat-loving, sun-sipping girl has been happier than a California Raisin in a conga line.
Yes, while friends and family have been suffering under the blanket of an unusually cool and wet summer in the East, we here have been having picnics on the beach, margaritas on our porch, camping trips, ocean dips and most importantly, the beautiful fruit and veg bounty of summertime.
While all this sun and fun is great, sometimes it goes a bit to my head. In a vitamin D overdosed weekend , I bought several pounds of beautiful tomatoes on 3 separate occasions over the course of three days. Imagine my surprise when I realized tomatoes were magically multiplying in my home. And none from my numerous barren tomato plants on my back patio.
There are endless numbers of things one can do with an abundance of tomatoes and I am sure you all have been here before; over buying at the farmer’s market in a panicked rush of zealous, vegetable-loving euphoria. Veggie overloads calls for creativity. Whether you deliver daily zucchinis to your coworkers or decide to delve into the forgotten art of canning, we food folk will find a way to put summer harvests to good use. And slowly but surely we are working through our accidental tomato bounty, and the first of my many meals was what I will call ‘Bruschetta Salad’.
This salad is divinely simple and perfectly delicious. You need several large ripe tomatoes, 4 oz of fresh mozzarella, a handful of basil leaves and some day-old sourdough bread.
Wash and dice the tomatoes and mozzarella and put in a large bowl. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Add coarsely chopped basil and a few slices of cubed sourdough bread and finis! Let the salad marinate for a half an hour or so at room temperature. (In fact, don’t ever refrigerate your tomatoes if you don’t have to.) The sourdough bread will soak up a lot of the flavor of the tomato-balsamic juices.
We paired this salad with some lightly sauteed garden fresh zucchini with lemon, butter and pepper. Add a glass of dry white wine or a crisp Peroni and what a perfect summer meal.
