Tomatoes off the Vine – Get ‘em While It’s Hot!

It’s been an unseasonably cool summer, which means tomatoes were slow in ripening, and our vines never really took off at home. When I spotted my first really big red tomato at the farmers market, dreams of BLT’s were floating through my head! One fat slice of that beefsteak tomato is all you need, there’s just NO comparison to a back-of-the-refrigerated-truck-ripened tomato from Chile. So I’ve been pulling out my old favorites when it comes to tomato recipes, and trying some new items as well. One that was incredibly easy and delicious was an authentic “grilled” cheese sandwich, cooked on the grill. Tell me, why are they called grilled cheese when you cook them on a stove?

I start with my favorite Beckmann’s whole wheat sourdough bread, a thick slice of cheese (I found an organic white cheddar at the Grocery Outlet that was perfect), a few very thin slices of red onion, and a very fat slice of that vine ripened beefsteak tomato from the farmers’ market sprinkled with a bit of salt and pepper, drizzle the outside of the sandwich with olive oil, or spread lightly with butter, and GRILL IT! Two to three minutes on each side of the bread, careful not to burn, and voila, the real grilled cheese sandwich! One batch we added some fresh basil leaves in, hmmm, I should have tried fresh Mozzarella with that one, next time. Try it, you won’t be disappointed.

My other favorite summer tomato recipe is Tomato Panzanella Salad. The best part of the panzanella is the grilled whole wheat croutons, I make them all the time, and add a ton of fresh garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil. They stay fresh in a ziplock bag for weeks. I use a large fresh loaf of whole wheat French bread from our Safeway bakery (or Beckmann’s noted above), chop it up into cubes and grill in a basket. Get your panzanella on while real tomatoes are still rolling in!

TOMATO AND ARTICHOKE PANZANELLA SALAD

3 cups whole-wheat French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 head garlic, peeled and finely chopped (yes, the whole head!)
2 cups frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
3 large tomatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 1/2 cups pitted black olives, broken into rough pieces
1 cup chopped, fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup red or white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Place a grill pan over medium heat on the grill. Drizzle the bread and garlic with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toss. Grill the bread and garlic until golden brown about 10 – 15 minutes total, tossing frequently. Remove from the grill and transfer to a large bowl to cool. This step can be done well in advance and stored in an airtight container. Drizzle the artichokes with olive oil, salt and pepper and grill about 5 – 7 minutes, until you have some grill marks. Add to the bowl with croutons. Add the tomatoes, olives and basil to the bowl and toss to combine. In a small bowl stir together the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. When ready to serve, drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss.