7.24.2010

tomato love

I picked up some lovely heirloom tomatoes at farmers market today. Aren't they just so pretty?! Once you've tried a fresh, ripe heirloom tomato you'll never look at those blah, tasteless store bought tomatoes the same way ever again.

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I put together a nice tomato salad when I got home from the market.

I sliced them up thick

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stacked 'em up

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tossed on a bit of crumbled blue cheese, fresh basil, cracked pepper and creamy balsamic dressing

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grabbed a fork...and a knife

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and got busy!

Ode To Tomatoes
by Pablo Neruda

The street
filled with tomatoes,
midday,
summer,
light is
halved
like
a
tomato,
its juice
runs
through the streets.
In December,
unabated,
the tomato
invades
the kitchen,
it enters at lunchtime,
takes
its ease
on countertops,
among glasses,
butter dishes,
blue saltcellars.
It sheds
its own light,
benign majesty.
Unfortunately, we must
murder it:
the knife
sinks
into living flesh,
red
viscera
a cool
sun,
profound,
inexhaustible,
populates the salads
of Chile,
happily, it is wed
to the clear onion,
and to celebrate the union
we
pour
oil,
essential
child of the olive,
onto its halved hemispheres,
pepper
adds
its fragrance,
salt, its magnetism;
it is the wedding
of the day,
parsley
hoists
its flag,
potatoes
bubble vigorously,
the aroma
of the roast
knocks
at the door,
it's time!
come on!
and, on
the table, at the midpoint
of summer,
the tomato,
star of earth, recurrent
and fertile
star,
displays
its convolutions,
its canals,
its remarkable amplitude
and abundance,
no pit,
no husk,
no leaves or thorns,
the tomato offers
its gift
of fiery color
and cool completeness.


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31 comments:

Angie's Recipes said...

I made a tomato salad yesterday too...but yours looks so much more inviting and fresher!

Dajana said...

They're beautiful. I've got some San Marzano tomatoes in my garden and I'm making a tomato or tomato-cucumber salad almost every day, I want to fill up on their gorgeous taste while I can.

Joanne said...

I've never had heirloom tomatoes but now I'm really craving them! My next trip to whole foods is definitely going to include them. I love how you really let their flavors shine through.

TKW said...

I'm salivating on my screen! There is, in my mind, nothing better than a ripe tomato (unless it's a ripe heirloom tomato). Stunning!

MaryMoh said...

Gosh..I have never seen so many types of tomatoes. They make beautiful salad...like rainbow salad :D

Dawn Parsons Smith said...

I'm a huge fan of heirloom tomatoes! We have a seed company here that specializes in them:)

I also LOVE fried green tomatoes...I can't get through a summer without those!

Simple Daisy said...

Those look so yummy!!
I love fresh tomatoes:)

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Heirlooms are not ready yet but I did find some imported ones at a local gricer. I am not sure I can wait!!!!

Stella said...

Oh, Kim this salad is beautiful, and I know if you used 'real' tomatoes that it's delicious too! I can't eat those conventional or hydroponic grown tomatoes anymore-tasteless and watery...
p.s. Did you know over 90% of conventionally grown tomatoes have fish DNA in them? Weird!

cheri said...

ah, heirloom tomatoes. a bit expensive in my country, but so worth it! :)

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

They're pretty AND delicious looking!

ck said...

YUM! Do you have a recipe for the creamy balsamic dressing? If I could just keep the squirrels away from my tomatoes, I'd love to make my own version of this.

Jo said...

Those are gorgeous!
I was hoping my Farmers Market would have them this week but sadly, they didn't.

What are you making with yours?

Jo

chow and chatter said...

oh wow lovely salad and your right can't beat good spuds

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

These are beautiful tomatoes. You are so right about fresh tomatoes, opposed to store bought. Store bought have no real taste.

We grow tomatoes so for part of the year, we have the delicious, strong tomato flavor which is delicious. Use it in everything.

Delicious Dishings said...

Blue cheese! Maybe that's what I want. I picked up some heirlooms at a farm yesterday and have been trying to think of what to pair them with. Those heirlooms look gorgeous. I think your growing season is a little further along than ours.

Jenn said...

I always say...you can never have enough tomato. I just gotten myself a fresh batch the other day. :)

Randi Troxell said...

oh delish..

tomatoes happen to be a fave of mine!!

Maddy said...

How is it possible that you an ever make stacked tomatoes look like a masterpiece?! They look incredible!

Juliana said...

Wow, great pictures...love the different kind of tomatoes...and so cute in layers :-)

megan said...

Give me some bread and a glass of wine and I could make a meal out of this. Those tomaotes are
bee-u-tiful!

tigerfish said...

I love heirloom tomatoes!

Noble Pig said...

Just Beautiful!

Anonymous said...

You're so right, there is nothing as delicious as fresh heirloom tomatoes! Yours are beautiful!

Faith said...

Sorry Kim that last comment was from me! :)

Screen Door Prep said...

Mmm, those do look gorgeous. We have grown our own tomatoes for the first time this year & have been thrilled with the results from our "patio garden." ;)

I tagged you for an award today!

Megan said...

Those are some gorgeous tomatoes and I love the idea of stacking up! Yum!

Suzi said...

Your tomato salad looks simply divine. I am (impatiently) waiting for mine to come in.

Chiara "Kika" Assi said...

Never knew Neruda was such a tomato lover... smart guy, they are about the best thing on earth! I love your stack by the way, my mom makes a very similar dish and I love it when she makes it.

Julia said...

Holy Tomato towers! Wow. Now I know something else to do with toms this year. That looks yumalicious. But we're still about two weeks away from our first real tomatoes ripening. :(

Magic of Spice said...

That is gorgeous! I don't really have too many of the larger varieties in my garden but I so love this...

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