Our personal recipe for quick and easy tomato salsa is so addictive, you'll want to double up and make two batches — that's how fast it disappears. We'll show you how to make a true restaurant-style salsa, and let you in on a few secret ingredients that really enhance the natural flavor of tomatoes. Watch the video and keep reading to see the classic salsa recipe.
Like peanut butter and jelly, lamb and mint, or strawberry and rhubarb, tomato soup and grilled cheese were practically made to be paired with each other. Here, I've taken the combination one better and — inspired by the always charming and ingenious Ina Garten — melded two solid concepts (tomato soup with grilled cheese, and a crispy crouton garnish) to create a dish that really, truly may just blow your mind.
This combination is pretty darn hard to beat — like a comforting hug in a bowl — but is admittedly a bit indulgent. For days when you're looking for something a little less over the top, omit the grilled cheese croutons, and garnish per usual, adding a swirl of extra-virgin olive oil, and an extra pinch of red pepper flakes if you can handle the heat. Either way, this classic tomato soup is a soul-soothing must make.
In case you aren't yet acquainted with Marcella Hazan's iconic 3-ingredient tomato sauce, it is that good. If you're already a convert, carry on supping on this incredibly rich, well-balanced sauce; if you aren't, please (please!) simmer up a batch tonight.
Sure, the tomatoes (at least the canned ones) aren't going anywhere, but just think, each day you wait is one more day without a drop of this velvety sauce passing your lips. Now I get it, if you're anything like me, you too fear the overhyped, perhaps feeling that anything mainstream must be passé, or that your overblown expectations will surely exceed reality. Either way, cast all doubts aside, this sauce is not only stupid simple to prepare (three ingredients: that's it), it'll blow any and all competition out of the water.
Looking to preserve Summer's bounty of tomatoes for chilly seasons to come? Chances are, you've been advised to peel your tomatoes. While most fruits and vegetables are prepped with a few swipes of a vegetable peeler
'Tis the season for ripe, flavorful fruits and vegetables. Regardless of how you pronounce "tomato," right now, this fruit (yes — it's technically not a vegetable!) is at its brightest and most succulent. Eat one ripe right off the vine with a drizzle of quality olive oil — and when that's not substantial enough, use its sweet flavor profile to enhance everything from pastries to pastas. See some of our favorite preparations below, and check out all of our best recipes for tomatoes.
 Gazpacho bloody mary |
 Pasta pomodoro |
 Heirloom tomato salad |
 Basil bruschetta |
 Tomato tart |
 Quinoa tabbouleh |
Juicy and sweet, tomatoes are full of antioxidants such as lycopene and beta-carotene. They're also still in season, making now the time to use up the last fruits in your garden, or find them pretty cheap at the grocery store or farmers market. Aside from enjoying them alone, here are some healthy snack ideas using delicious Summer tomatoes.
Gluten-Free Quinoa Pizza Bites
If you're a pizza-holic, try these gluten-free quinoa bites, which are packed with fiber and protein. This savory recipe is made with cherry tomatoes and makes a delicious snack or appetizer.
Easy Bruschetta
Made with tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil, this satisfying recipe for bruschetta is a cinch to whip up. Top it on sliced pieces of toasted baguette, and you'll feel like you're taking a bite right out of Summer.
Continue reading for another delicious tomato recipe.
A trip to the farmers market can be a bit mind-boggling with the wide range of heirloom fruits available these days. There's over 600 varieties of heirloom tomato seeds and a whole host of apple tree saplings available to farmers and home gardeners.
The options to cultivate and enjoy these late Summer/early Fall fruits are nearly endless and naturally involve some specimens with rather quirky names. When browsing a seed catalog, we came across names ranging from Arkansas Black to Zogola, and nearly everything in between. We're curious, is your fruit nomenclature up to snuff? Take our quiz and see if you can discern which varieties are apples and which are tomatoes, based on name alone.
Sources: Instagram user confitures and Flickr user kthread
Watermelon and feta, radishes and butter, mangoes with chili and lime: along the way, I've discovered that certain elemental combinations seem to sing perfectly in tune with balmy weather. Here's another one I'd like to add to the list: tomatoes, mayonnaise, and toast.
The TMT follows a simple equation: crunchy toast plus creamy white sauce plus sweet and acidic tomato equals euphoria. I'm not a huge mayonnaise fanatic, but in this open-faced treat, it adds an element of Southern comfort, while also playing to a certain sense of nostalgia.
Any of the components can be played around with; sub in cherry tomatoes or even fried green slices. Or reach for a garlicky aioli — if you're a true mayo hater, olive oil works nicely, too. Rye bread, sourdough bread, and wheat bread all stand up nicely, but avoid choosing a bread that's too crusty. My favorite combo: giant red brandywines, whole wheat bread, and a generous slather of Hellman's mayo. What's yours?
Not to be a downer, but I've become acutely aware that we only have a few more weeks of the Summer produce season until next year. Every time I smell a buttery, ripe peach, I cry a little inside, then I buy more peaches than I need. The same goes with basil; I'm pretty sure I have more than two bunches of basil in my refrigerator, in the event of an emergency. And each time I think of my next meal, I wonder if it can't be a dish that incorporates the sweet-tart jelly insides of a ripe tomato.
It's been easy to try (and fall for) tomatoes in many iterations, from Southeast Asian salad to pickled farm-stand tomatoes. But I'm convinced that my latest discovery, fusilli with no-cook tomato sauce, has to be the greatest.
Chances are, if you grace my dinner table anytime between June and October, you'll be digging into a heaping bowl of tomato salad. My weekly farmers market trip practically revolves around their acquisition, and I can predict with startling accuracy my mood for the week based on whether I got my fill or not.
More often than not, the tomatoes are destined for the simplest of salads: sliced (or halved, in the case of cherry tomatoes) and dressed with a hefty sprinkle of sea salt, a drizzle of olive oil, and balsamic vinegar, if that, because the best Summer tomatoes don't really need to be gussied up.
This, however, is a game changer. It's likely that I might have simply skipped over this recipe and kept with tradition, greedily gobbling bowl after bowl of the simply dressed fruit, but something about this salad drew me in. Perhaps it was its provenance (I'll almost always blindly follow recipe advice from Melissa Clark) or maybe it was the addition of fish sauce (I'm a sucker for the briny liquid). Either way, I'd suggest that you too break out of your comfort zone and give this variation on the classic Summer salad a try.
