I worked my first farmers’ market this weekend, helping out at the booth of a local organic farm known for their incredible dry-farmed tomatoes. It was great to give out samples (essentially enticing customers in, because apparently I am, as my co-worker put it, “more attractive than the two of them”) and see people’s reactions. I saw a lot of, “Oh, tomatoes, cool, okay… [insert taste here] Oh, wow. Those are really good. Honey you have to try some of these…”
What makes these tomatoes special is the way that they’re grown. They’re cultivated in soil that has a lot of clay, and this allows it to retain a lot of water. The tomatoes are never (or very infrequently) irrigated — so their water is drawn up from what’s already stored in the soil, bringing up a lot of minerals in the process. And voila — incredible tomato-y flavor. I don’t even like tomatoes that much and I love these guys!
Since it was my first shift, I was paid in produce. A pretty good deal if you ask me. I came back with three giant Italian torpedo onions, three purple bell peppers, a bunch of green beans, two heads of cabbage… and about 12 pounds of these incredible tomatoes. Now, however, I face the dilemma of dealing with said tomatoes.
Witness:
I decided to make a tomato-heavy soup that would also utilize the onions I received: this recipe from Alexandra Cooks (a blog I read regularly for food inspiration). It smells delicious only twenty minutes in… but look how many tomatoes I still have left:
If nothing else, I’ll be drying them, but I’ll probably be eating lots of caprese and trying this as well (tomato pesto pie… sign me up!). I guess this really will be the summer I learn to love tomatoes…
I’m so glad I read your blog this morning. Cheyenne and Tessa (Cheyenne’s gf–did you ever meet her? She’s amazing) went to this huge upick tomato farm the other day and picked 24 pounds of tomatoes! They’re making marinara sauce and canning it. Also the apple tree at my new house is exploding with apples and yesterday Cheyenne and Tessa and I picked three huge boxes full (and the tree is still filled). Cheyenne and I are going to hang out tonight and make applesauce and maybe another batch of marinara sauce and you’re welcome to join us if you like! Cheyenne and I deemed our canning “Preserveapalooza” and you should join the festivities!
Love,
Sarah
we got tons of green tomatoes from our csa last week and last night erica made the best new recipe on the block – green tomato salsa. it was delicsh!
recipe share!
I would add salsa and bruschetta to the list of things you can make quickly and easily. (Made really good green tomato salsa last night with white onion, red bell pepper, lime, salt, and then avocado.) You could also try to find a recipe for putanesca. (Pardon my possible butchering of Italian words.)
I’m loving your blog! More! More!
Don’t know if you like chili? I too was given a box to tomatoes. I had no clue what to do with all of them. Canning lol I don’t have a clue. So I boiled down 15 Lbs of tomatoes to about half 6 to 7 Lbs and made a basic chili with it. I had chili for months, Oh plus I added 10 diced jalapenos.
Thanks