It’s tomato time!

I had a proverbial stroke of genius upon visualizing that the free range eggs from my CSA share would fit perfectly into one of the glossy show-offy beefsteak tomatoes that are at their peak here in New York. I used the tomato “guts” to make a zippy sauce so as not to waste any tomato goodness.

When I’m not stuffing them with farm-fresh eggs or popping them straight into my mouth, this is what I’m doing these days with my farmer’s market tomatoes:

I’m ravishing these jewel-like tomato salads like this one from Kalyn of Kayln’s Kitchen, or this simple-is-best heirloom salad from Catherine at Albion Cooks.

I can never get enough of salsa, and this one from Elise at Simply Recipes is a classic.

And if you have an over abundance of tomatoes (lucky you!) these recipes sound fab:

A fantastic-looking Tomato Pickle from Indira from Mahanandi.
Sexy Romesco Sauce from Ann at a A Chicken in Every Granny Cart.
Ultra-minimal Tomato Ginger Jam from Alanna at A Veggie Venture.

And don’t forget these favorite Vanesscipes that feature red-ripe tomatoes:

Spicy Chilled Tomato, Corn, and Herb Soup
Farmers Market Fresh Tomato Pasta
Corn Pudding with Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic Toast

Serves: 5
Time: 1 hour

Baked Eggs in Tomatoes
with a Zippy Tomato-Corn Sauce

13 large beefsteak tomatoes (10 for stuffing, 3 for sauce)
salt and pepper
12 large eggs
8 cloves garlic, sliced
olive oil
1/4 cup capers (one full 2 1/4 oz jar)
kernels from 4 cobs of corn
3/4 of a day-old baguette (6 - 8 cups of cubed bread)
2 cups gruyere cheese, grated (optional)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450F.

Slice off tops of tomatoes and scoop out seeds and pulp, leaving a half inch around the sides and bottom so they don’t collapse — a lot like carving a pumpkin. A good tip is to cut a thin slice from the bottom of the tomato so they are more stable. Reserve the pulp and the tomato tops for the sauce (never discard vitamins!) Put the tomato shells on a baking tray and sprinkle the insides lightly with salt.

Break one egg inside each tomato. Top with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper. Bake 20 minutes for softer yolks, 25 minutes for hard yolks.

Chop the reserved tomato pulp and tops. Dice the three reserved tomatoes.

While the eggs are in the oven, start the sauce by sauteing the garlic slices over low heat for about 5 minutes, until barely turn golden. Add the pulp from the stuffed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and capers. Turn the heat up to medium and simmer until starting to get thick, about 20 minutes. Add the corn, and when heated through add the diced bread. Salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble one or two stuffed tomatoes on a plate and ladle the sauce over. Sprinkle with cheese, if desired. Serve with crusty bread and a green salad.

This soup is sister to a gazpacho, cousin to a salsa fresca, and perhaps a great-aunt to a bruschetta topping.

The Li’l Sis invented it one sultry July day when she was craving a cool tomato gazpacho but wanted something with a bit more zip. She ravaged our fire escape garden and tossed in handfuls of herbs and three tiny red chili peppers. What these peppers lacked in size they well made up for in heat. Even the tough-tongued Li’l Sis had to admit we probably used one pepper too many.

This soup is the perfect way to put the bounty of luscious August tomatoes to good, fresh, tasty use. And you might as well pick up a nice loaf of crusty bread too; it’s all you’ll need to enjoy this simple main course soup.

Time: 1 hour
Serves: 6

Spicy Chilled Tomato, Corn and Herb Soup

18 large tomatoes, stem end cored out
3 cobs of corn, cooked and kernels cut off
1 can small white beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup chopped basil
1/3 cup chopped mint
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 - 2 jalapenos, minced (with or without seeds according to your preference)
juice of 1 lemon
3 Tbsp avocado or olive oil
2 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
3 avocados, diced

Dice 8 tomatoes, including the skins. Using the large holes of cheese grater, grate the other 10 tomatoes into a large bowl, getting all the pulp away from the skins. Discard skins, squeezing any remaining tomato juice into the bowl.

Add the cooked corn kernels, white beans, cilantro, basil, mint, garlic, jalapeno, lemon, oil, salt and pepper.

At this point you can chill the soup for two or more hours if you’d like it cold. It’s also wonderful room temperature.

Before serving, scatter the diced avocados on top.

Serve with crusty bread & olive oil.

This is a recipe that I feel almost guilty for calling a recipe.  A delicious pesto can be made to order following the below formula; just fill in your favorite herb, greens, nuts, oils and flavorings:

Mix-n-Match Pesto Generator Recipe

• 2 cups or so of herbs (basil, cilantro, dill, parsley, arugula, watercress, spinach)
• 1/2 cup nuts (pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts, almonds, cashews, macadamia)
• a bit of savory flavor (optional - Parmesan, miso, nutritional yeast)
• a bit of tangy flavor: (lemon juice, vinegar, lime, olives, jalapeños, onions, garlic
• Oil! (olive oil, avocado oil, walnut oil, thai chile, sesame oil)

Use whatever stuff is growing wildly on your doorstep or appears in abundance in your shopping cart. 

You can mix your fashionable new pesto in with pasta, top a pizza with it, slather it on bruschetta, fold it in with omelets, create a new a salad dressing, etc!

You can also make a pesto with roasted tomatoes, beets, or marinated veggies like olives, artichokes, peppers.  Go crazy.

If you’d like a more specific pesto recipe, try some of the tasty looking ones below, which I’ve culled from very reliable sources:

Yummy-looking Cilantro Pesto and a Classic Basil Pesto from Elise at Simply Recipes
A raw pesto dish - Basil Pesto over Zucchini “Pasta” by the fantastic folks at What the Hell Does a Vegan Eat Anyway
Beautiful Asparagus Pesto by 28 Cooks and a proven hit low-fat version by SusanV at FatFree Vegan. 
And here’s 28 Cooks Basil and Habanero recipe.  So pretty! 
Great minds think alike!  Check out the Pistachio Arugula Pesto at VeganYumYum
Mmmm! Beet Pesto from Alanna at Veggie Venture.  What a great way to use your CSA veggies!  And here’s her concurrently-posted Arugula Pesto.

My very own recipe for Cilantro Arugula Pistachio Pesto has a taste reminiscent of guacamole and has proven to be just as addictive.  The tartness of the arugula stands up to the assertiveness of the cilantro, and the heat from the jalapeños and mellowness of the avocado oil round this out into a sauce you want to eat right from the spoon… which is just fine until you have a dozen dirty spoons sitting in your sink.

Time: 20 minutes
Makes over a cup of pesto

Cilantro Arugula Pistachio Pesto

1/2 cup pistachios
1 bunch of arugula, roughly chopped and stems removed
1 bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped and stems removed
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1 small jalapeño, deseeded and minced
juice of 1 lemon
big pour of avocado oil
big pour of olive oil

In a blender or food processor, pulse the pistachios a few times to break them up into small pieces. Add the arugula, cilantro, onion, lemon, and a pour of avocado oil. Try blending and add olive oil until the pesto is liquid enough to blend smoothly. Depending on your intended use you can add more oil or keep it nice and thick. (If using on bruschetta keep thick, but add more oil if you’d like to mix it in with pasta.)

A wise man (or was it the Beach Boys?) once said, “Christmas comes this time each year.” The holiday season is upon us, the air is cold and Fifth Avenue is chockablock with holiday shoppers filling their noses with the usual Fifth Avenue scent of burning hotdogs.

Also making guest appearances in December: my fuzzy slippers, the winter triangle, Macy’s advertisements, fat squirrels, and pink cheeks. And there’s something about December’s wintery weekends that makes me want to swandive back under my covers and not come out until someone puts a hot bowl of something under my nose.

Well, I got a little hungry and couldn’t wait for someone else to make a bowl of something so I decided on this tagine that’s rich, flavorful, filling and healthy to boot. So much in fact that I’m contributing it to Sweetnick’s Antioxidant Rich Foods (ARFs) Tuesdays, which I’ve long been aware of but painfully lax in submitting too, even though most vanesscipes are brimming with antioxidant goodness.

This recipe is based on a traditional lamb and green olive tagine, but without the lamb of course. You can serve it to your own little lamb, whole flock, gaggle of Beach Boys or whoever.

Serves: 6
Time: 1 hour

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Upon my urging my mom gifted me a pressure cooker for Christmas last year. Since then, my pressure cooker (or, p.c., as I like to call it) has been lying around my cupboard, directions inside, collecting dust. The whole idea of cooking under pressure frightened me well away from p.c. for 10 1⁄2 months. It’s my pleasure to report that the two below items helped me reach a tipping point and I used my darling p.c. for the very first time for this recipe.

1. Li’l Sis used to be her dorm’s fire safety marshal
Since I’m living with a ex-fire marshal I figure however scary using a pressure cooker is for the first time the Li’l Sis can step in and save the day. The good news is: using a pressure cooker isn’t scary all, quite the contrary; it’s easy and letting the steam out when depressurizing is pretty darn fun. The bad news is: after witnessing the Li’l Sis toast a flatbread on the stove over the open flame I found out she was only her dorm’s fire safety marshal in order to claim one of those plastic red fireman’s hats, and probably shouldn’t be depended upon in issues of fire safety.

2. wheat berries
These little things are my new favorite food item. They are a whole grain, a good source of vegetarian protein, wonderfully chewy, and fun to eat. Wheat berries, despite their cute name, are just the whole wheat grain minus only the inedible outer hull. The only problem with wheat berries is that they usually take 1 1⁄2 hours to cook. Far too long for a busy girl. P.c. to the rescue – they only take 40 minutes in a pressure cooker.

Serves: 6
Time: 55 minutes with a pressure cooker

Warm Wheat Berry and Apple Salad

2 cups water (3 if not using a pressure cooker)
2 cups wheat berries
1 large or 2 small apples, cubed small
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup golden raisins
½ cup walnuts
2 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp orange or apple juice
splash of olive oil
½ tsp salt

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