A tomato salad feast. Photo courtesy
chef Mauro Colagreco.

We splurge on $4/pound heirloom tomatoes (that’s the New York City price—don’t let it scare you if you live elsewhere), which are available at our farmers market in a wide variety of colors, shapes, flavors and sizes.

We buy Aunt Rubys, Black Russians, Brandywines, Cherokee Purples, German Stripes, Green Zebras, and our favorite name tomatoes, Mortgage Lifters, which were bred in the 1930s by a West Virginia farmer who needed cash to pay off his mortgage.

Don’t be put off by cracked skin at the stem end: The tomato is still delicious. You can peel the skin or slice off the end. When this “fault” of numerous tomato varieties was bred out to create perfect-looking tomatoes, much flavor was bred out with it. Tomatoes should be a flavor competition, not a search for perfect skin.

This is a wonderful first course. When you purchase the tomatoes, make sure that you have one tomato at least three inches in diameter that can be cut into four slices, a half-inch or thicker, to serve as a base for the other ingredients. Serves four.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. HERBS. Make a paste of herbs: In a mortar and pestle or food processor, grind/pulse herbs to a paste. Add a small amount of olive oil and a pinch of salt to season. If you make more than 1/4 cup, the leftover paste will keep in the fridge for several days. You can use it as a garnish with just about anything, including as a sandwich spread, in potato salad, mixed into rice, scrambled eggs and other everyday dishes.

2. BALSAMIC. Prepare the balsamic reduction. You can substitute a purchased balsamic glaze.

3. TOMATOES. Slice the “base” tomato into four slices. Cut the other tomatoes into the size of halved cherry tomatoes or large dice. Some tomatoes may need to be seeded before cutting into small pieces. Add a pinch of salt and the fresh thyme to the cut tomatoes and arrange atop the base, leaving a space in the center for the greens.

4. SALAD. Lightly dress with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. There is no vinegar because the great flavor of heirloom tomatoes should shine through, and the salad can be dipped into the balsamic reduction. However, if you are using tomatoes that need a kick of flavor, or don’t want to make the balsamic reduction, you can substitute a balsamic vinaigrette.

5. FINISH. Using squeeze bottles or medicine droppers, surround the tomato base with an artistic array of herb and balsamic droplets (see photo above). Serve and celebrate the glory of tomatoes.

An heirloom tomato is a non-hybrid (open-pollinated) tomato cultivar (variety). It has the deep, lush flavor that tomatoes were meant to have, before they were bred (hybridized) to have perfect shapes, bright red colors, disease-resistance while growing and shipping and long shelf life, among other qualities.

Even if you eat freshly-picked, vine-ripened tomatoes lovingly grown from seedlings in your own garden—far superior in flavor to store-bought tomatoes that have traveled a distance—the flavor is just a fraction of a tomato grown from heirloom seeds.

The period following World War II marks the beginning of industrial agriculture, with a focus on breeding produce and livestock for commercial convenience. Flavor was victim to economics in the commercial seed business.

For small farmers who fought to maintain quality, heirloom seeds have been nurtured and handed down through the generations, going back 100 years and longer.
 
Find more salad recipes in our Vegetables Section.

Drink your dessert. Photo courtesy
DiSaronno.

This recipe, courtesy of DiSaronno, makers of amaretto (almond liqueur), evokes the tropics with piña colada mix and fresh banana.

Even if you don’t have access to a beach and swaying palm trees, close your eyes and imagine. Perhaps listen to Elvis’ Blue Hawaii CD.

BANANA COLADA DESSERT COCKTAIL

Ingredients

1. MIX all ingredients in a blender with ice and pour into a chilled cocktail glass.

2. TOP with whipped cream and a banana slice. Serve with a straw and a spoon.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. MAKE a design on the inside of the glass with a squeeze bottle of chocolate syrup. Add the brownie cubes.

2. SHAKE the remaining ingredients in a shaker with ice. Strain into into a Martini glass.

3. SERVE with a spoon. The cocktail softens the brownie into a bread pudding-like consistency.

MORE DESSERT COCKTAILS

Try this Grand Cookie Crumble recipe with Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur).

Or, use the recipes above as templates to combine your favorite ingredients. Let us know what you create!

Find more of our favorite dessert and cocktail recipes.

[2] Almond and grape white gazpacho with anchovy and poached grape garnishes (photo © Jules Stonesoup | CC By NC 2.0 License).

The recipe doesn’t matter: In Spain, home of gazpacho, there are as many recipe variations of the chilled soup as you can count.

Don’t like tomatoes or bell peppers? Make white gazpacho. Here’s a recipe from chef John Fraser at Dovetail, a top New York City restaurant, that doesn’t rely on summer produce and can be made year-round. It’s not the lowest calorie gazpacho, but you can substitute fat-free yogurt Greek yogurt.

December 6th is National Gazpacho Day and May is National Gazpacho Aficionado Month.
 
 
WHITE GAZPACHO FROM DOVETAIL

Ingredients For 6 Servings

 
Garnishes

1. Sauté leeks in a medium-size pan over medium-low heat until translucent and tender. Chill in the fridge.

2. Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender; purée until smooth.

3. Season with salt to taste.

4. Pass through a fine mesh sieve or chinois. Plate, garnish and serve cold.
 
 
WAYS TO DRESS UP YOUR GAZPACHO

 
 
SPECIALTY GAZPACHO RECIPES

 
 
GAZPACHO ADDS TO YOUR VEGGIE COUNT

Even a small amount of soup can add another portion of veggies to your daily intake.

How many fruit and vegetable servings do you need each day? The government’s prior “five a day” recommendation has been modified based on age, gender and physical activity.

Use this fruit and vegetable calculator from the Centers For Disease Control to calculate your personal requirements.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF GAZPACHO
  

Look for burgundy, maroon, white and yellow carrots. Orange and yellow beets. Purple “green” beans and bell peppers. Green, orange and purple cauliflower. Heirloom tomatoes in burgundy, green, yellow and stripes.

Some of the unusual hues are the original colors—carrots, for example, were originally white. Others are natural mutations or have been specially bred.

No matter how they arrived, these beautiful veggies deserve a place on your table. Before summer fades into fall, gather ye produce while ye may.

When you get your treasures home, consider how to enjoy them. We especially like an “heirloom” crudité plate, enjoying the color as well as the flavor of these summer treasures.

With some vegetables, cooking fades the color. If you have your heart set on purple cauliflower soup, for example, steam a small piece in the microwave to see how the color responds.

Before the lush summer peaches disappear, make a grilled peach cobbler outside on the grill. You don’t have to turn on an oven and heat up the kitchen. And, it’s delicious!

Chef Bobby Flay demonstrates how easy it is, in this video:

Find more of our favorite pie, cobbler and dessert recipes.