1. Chop as many tomatoes as you like into quarters, toss them with sliced red onion, drained olives, thinly sliced fennel, fresh rocket leaves and a few sprigs of mint. (You'd be amazed how much you love the collision of liqorice scented fennel with tangy fresh mint.) Top with a small amount of balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. A Greek Salad, that is not a Greek salad and is twice as delicious! Added nutrition bonus from the rocket and fennel; two powerhouses for your body. House points also available for adding quinoa and avocado! Yay for protein and fat!!!
2. Make this Tomato Jam. Put it on EVERYTHING
3. Put your oven as low as it can go, cut your tomatoes in half and lay them on a baking tray. Season well with ground sea salt and roast for several hours until they look 'sun dried', these make divine snack vessels, eat them as crudites with guacamole, top them with mozerella and basil or (my fav) sprinkle a salmon fillet with chopped walnuts, lay the tomatoes ontop, drizzle with olive oil, then wrap and bake. YUM!
These recipes were born from neccesity. The Gentleman has a Grandfather who I often imagine drifted out of the Tyrone mist one morning, silver hair slicked back, suit jacket unbuttoned and a clucking chicken at his heels, solely to occupy the void that modernity is creating. He has the calm stillness and wealth of knowledge that only a rural upbringing and a lifetime of observation can bestow. Ask him about bee keeping, constellations, that day's racing (!) I guarantee he'll know! For as long as most remember he has coaxed deliciousness from the ground in his charmingly decrepit, cobweb strewn, dew glistening mini farm. There are rows and rows of potatoes, beans, carrots and onions, forests of berry stalks, coops of strutting cockrels and the sweetest smelling orchard this side of Armagh. Our own vegetable plot owes much to the Gentle Grandfather. That being said, ours does lack the sophistication of his polytunnel which (quite literally) bursts with tomato vines. Every summer the Gentle Grandfather gifts all who cross his path with sacks of these sweet fruits. (And yes they are fruits, though I didn't understand this until I tried his!) Some are big, some are small, some are split, some are spotted. All are delicious.
It has become something of a challenge in the Happy House to use these tomatoes while they are at their best. Yes we make soups and sauces for freezing over the winter, but I somehow feel it's an assault to cook these delicacies, especially the tiny adorable ones. So, we use them as raw as we can without dying of boredom!
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