Please be humane and keep
TOMATOES IN THEIR NATURAL HABITAT
There are a lot of ways to consume a tomato. Eat it like an apple, in a sandwich, tossed with pasta, or on a pizza. But there are two truly perfect dishes that show you what the misunderstood tomato is really supposed to taste like: Caprese and Bruschetta.
Caprese Salad:
3-4 tomatoes, any size; sliced to ¼-½ inch thick
1 pound (or roll) fresh mozarella; sliced to match the thickness and shape of the tomatoes
10-15 basil leaves (depending on how many times you repeat the pattern below); kept whole and washed and dried carefully
On a large platter lay out the following items as those they were fallen dominos:
Tomato slice, mozarella slice, basil leaf–in that order until you are out of ingredients (if you run out of one thing and not the other, just keep alternating or slice more tomatoes until you are finished). Set platter aside. In a glass, combine 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, and a dash of salt. Stir ingredients together vigorously with a fork. Drizzle dressing over entire platter.
Serve.
Bruschetta:
4-5 tomatoes
fresh basil, chopped into teeny tiny pieces
1 ½ Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
dash of garlic powder (just one or two shakes of the bottle)
salt to taste
Crusty Bread, sliced (small baguettes are best)
(I’ll keep it real here and tell you I use Costco baguettes. I buy them, freeze them, and thaw them when I need some decent bread.)
More Olive Oil
Place a colander on top of a dinner plate. Dice tomatoes and place in the colander (the plate will catch anything that falls out). Tomatoes are really juicy (sometimes too juicy) and need to lose a bit of their juice so they don’t overwhelm the other ingredients. Sprinkle a bit of salt on the diced tomatoes and set aside.
Chop basil into teeny tiny pieces. Place the colander of tomatoes over the sink. Shake the diced tomatoes around until you see a bit of juice come out. Next, in a large bowl, combine diced tomatoes with basil, garlic powder, olive oil, and vinegar (may need a bit more salt at this point. Totally up to you. Toss together and set aside).
Slice bread in 1/2″ thick slices. Using pastry brush, brush each slice of bread with olive oil. Brush both sides.
In largest fry pan, toast bread slices over medium heat (with additional olive oil in pan, just enough to cover surface)until both sides of toast are golden brown. Or, put oven on broil setting. Place slices of bread on cookie sheet, oiled side up. Broil 5-6 inches from top heating element until toast is golden and toasted. Keep oven door ajar and watch carefully. DON’T WALK AWAY FROM BROILING BREAD! It will turn black before before you can say “bruschetta”.
When pieces are adequately browned, top with bruschetta tomato mixture and serve immediately (or your toast will get soggy).
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