By Kalyn Denny of Kalyn’s Kitchen

Fresh tomatoes are one of those magical ingredients people wait for all year, and when the tomatoes are juicy and vine-ripened, you don’t need more than a sprinkling of good sea salt to make them taste amazing. Of course, eventually you’ll get tired or plain tomatoes and want to do something a bit more creative with summer’s favorite fruit that’s eaten as a vegetable. When that day comes, these tomato recipes may come in handy.

Tomatoes in Salads

Let’s start with salad, since there are so many classic salads that feature tomatoes. Chopped Summer Salad at The Garden of Eating is a variation on the genre that combines tomatoes with cucumbers, mint, parsley, and lemon juice. Tomatoes also combine perfectly with many types of cheese, and Haalo from Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once has a beautiful recipe for Purslane, Tomato, and Persian Fetta Salad. Caprese Salad is a classic that combines tomatoes with fresh mozarella, but in the Cherry Tomato Caprese Salad with Sumac from Jane Spice, the sumac adds a new twist. One of the long time favorites at my house is Summer Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese, Basil Vinaigrette, and Fresh Herbs (pictured). Another famous and always popular summer salad combines tomatoes with leftover bread, such as the Bread Salad with Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette from The Perfect Pantry, or Panzanella with Fresh Herbs from David Lebovitz. Finally, I love the sound of the Chickpea and Eggplant Salad with Fresh Tomatoes and Peppers at Lucullian Delights.

Cold Tomato Soups

If you’ve never tried the famous cold tomato soup called Gazpacho, this is the summer you simply must make it. Gazpacho comes from Spain of course, and the recipe for Basic Gazpacho from Ximena at Lobstersquad in Madrid sounds about right. I also think Susan’s version of Gazpacho with Roasted Tomatoes and Peppers sounds great at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. Other versions that sound intriguing are Spicy Cilantro Gazpacho at Treat a Week Recipes or Creamy Gazpacho with a Southwestern Kick at Fab Frugal Food. Finally, at Simply Recipes, there’s a lovely sounding cold tomato soup with zucchini (pictured) which is “not gazpacho” and Elise names it Cold Summer Vegetable Soup.

Salsa, Pesto, and Jam Made with Tomatoes

Another whole category of tomatoes recipes are the ones that use tomatoes in condiments like salsa, pesto, or even jam. I’m a complete sucker for salsa and I’d love the Perfect Party Salsa (pictured) from In Good Taste. If you add a few more ingredients to Salsa it becomes Pico de Gallo and the version from Sweetnicks (pictured) also seems like a winner. When Judy from Over a Tuscan Stove has too many tomatoes she makes Sicilian Tomato Jam, which sounds heavenly served on ricotta spread on Italian bread. At Kayotic Kitchen, Kay spreads bread with Pesto Rosso made from sun-dried and cherry tomatoes. There’s also a different version of Red Pesto at 101 Cookbooks, where Heidi uses it on Ravioli to please her sun-dried-tomato-loving husband.

Cooked Tomatoes, With or Without Pasta

Since tomato plants keep producing well into fall, eventually you’ll want to make some dishes involving cooked tomatoes or at least using tomatoes with other cooked ingredients. You could try the simple Herb Roasted Tomatoes from Bell’alimento or make it a bit fancier with the Roasted Cherry Tomatoes Topped with Bread Crumbs (pictured) from A Perfect Pantry. I think the Summer Pasta with Zucchini (and cherry tomatoes) from Viaggi and Sapori also sounds like a great dish to transition summer into fall. And if you find you’re lucky enough to have some leftover spaghetti on hand, I love the sound and looks of the Leftover Spaghetti with Sausage, Asparagus and Garlic-Roasted Tomatoes at 5 Second Rule.

Tomato Tarts

Then when it’s really starting to feel like fall and you still have tomatoes, consider baking some of them into a lovely tart such as the Fennel Cherry Tomato Tartlettes on Balsamic Crust created by Bea at La Tartine Gourmande. Equally gorgeous and tasty-looking is the Cherry Tomato and Zucchini Tart from My Cooking Hut. If you like the sound of bacon and onion with tomatoes, another tart that would be fun to try is the Smoked Bacon, Onion, and Cheese Tart with Cherry Tomatoes from Nami Nami. Finally, when Kim from A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen makes a Roasted Tomato and Vidalia Onion Tart (pictured) she thinks it will last a day or so, but she barely had a chance to take a photo before it was devoured. I’m guessing all of these tomato tarts will be quickly devoured, but if your tomatoes last long enough, you can make them more than once!

>Hopefully these tomato recipes will get through the next few months of tomato harvests, but if you still have tomatoes, you can find lots more tomato recipes by using the recipe search engine at FoodieView.com.

Kalyn Denny also blogs at Kalyn’s Kitchen, where she focuses on low-glycemic recipes using fresh ingredients.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 at 1:31 pm and is filed under Recipe Roundup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.