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There are few times I advocate eating food from a can; one of those few foods are tomatoes. That’s because the majority of the year, save for the time we are in right now, those hot house grown tomatoes taste like little more than mealy water. Whereas their canned counterparts, for instance San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes, were picked and canned at the height of their sun-ripened summer freshness.
A fresh tomato should taste sweet and with a little tang from the acidity, and have a mouth feel of juicy velvet. I am happy to say that after months of sticking to the canned variety, the time of the fresh tomato has finally arrived.
There are many kinds of tomatoes, particularly now with the explosion in popularity of heirloom varietals. Each of these, from your beefsteak to the bite-sized cherry tomato, has its own unique flavor, texture and application.
The large beefsteak, for instance, is ideal for slicing in large rounds for topping sandwiches and hamburgers. Cherry tomatoes toss perfectly into salads without the need for cutting. Plum tomatoes have lower water content and slightly more concentrated flavor than most commercially mass-produced varietals and thus are great for cooking in every way from soups to sauces.
The wonderful thing about tomatoes right now is that with the last 15 years of heirloom tomato cultivation, a huge number of heirloom varieties are available right now at nearly every supermarket across the country. From the green zebra to the Brandywine, heirloom tomatoes offer near endless opportunities for experimentation. And since the last time I was in the market the heirloom tomatoes were actually less expensive than the standard tomatoes-on-the-vine, there is no better time than the present to start working tomatoes into every part of your meal.
It is amazing to think that, from a fruit that is native to South America and was not introduced to the Old World until about 500 years ago, would come one of Spain’s most ubiquitous dishes: gazpacho. The classic Andalusian gazpacho is a tomato based cold soup that never touches a flame. Fresh tomatoes are blended until smooth with little more added besides some bread for thickening, perhaps a bit of sherry vinegar, garlic and cumin for taste, along with a good dose of olive oil to bring it all together.
Gazpacho crossed the pond many years ago to infiltrate American kitchens as the quintessential no-cook summer dish. Here our recipes tend to look more like V-8 blending uncooked tomatoes with cucumber, green pepper, onion, and maybe even jalapeno or Worcestershire for a kick. No matter how you adapt your own gazpacho, make sure the tomatoes are sun-ripened at the peak of the season and resulting soup will taste like pure summer.
When it comes to preparing fruits and vegetables that are at the peak of the season, the rule is the simpler the preparation the better. Anyone can make a tomato salad, but one of my favorite ways to show off the true essence of the tomato this time of year is with Tomatoes Provençal.
Like with any classic dish, there are many variations on this recipe. At its most basic, tomatoes are cut in half horizontally and placed cut side up in an olive oil coated pan (cut a sliver off the other end of each half to keep the tomato halves stable). The tomatoes are then coated with a healthy amount of olive oil and seasoning then roasted or broiled until just heated through. One then could add a sprinkling of Herbs de Provence, for a real taste of France, or a mixture of bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese can coat the cut sides for a crunchy top when roasted.
Tomatoes are rich in the antioxidant lycopene as well as being a good low calorie source of Vitamins A, C, and K, among others. But most of all, tomatoes this time of year just taste darn good. Set the cans aside until the fall and load up on heirlooms for gazpacho, cherries for salads, and beefsteak for your burger. Whether you say te-mei-tou or ta-ma-tou, tomatoes deserve a place at your table beginning today and for the rest of their sun-ripened season.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/934-heirloom-tomatoes/
It's Tomato Time!
There are few times I advocate eating food from a can; one of those few foods are tomatoes. That’s because the majority of the year, save for the time we are in right now, those hot house grown tomatoes taste like little more than mealy water. Whereas their canned counterparts, for instance San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes, were picked and canned at the height of their sun-ripened summer freshness.
A fresh tomato should taste sweet and with a little tang from the acidity, and have a mouth feel of juicy velvet. I am happy to say that after months of sticking to the canned variety, the time of the fresh tomato has finally arrived.
There are many kinds of tomatoes, particularly now with the explosion in popularity of heirloom varietals. Each of these, from your beefsteak to the bite-sized cherry tomato, has its own unique flavor, texture and application.
The large beefsteak, for instance, is ideal for slicing in large rounds for topping sandwiches and hamburgers. Cherry tomatoes toss perfectly into salads without the need for cutting. Plum tomatoes have lower water content and slightly more concentrated flavor than most commercially mass-produced varietals and thus are great for cooking in every way from soups to sauces.
The wonderful thing about tomatoes right now is that with the last 15 years of heirloom tomato cultivation, a huge number of heirloom varieties are available right now at nearly every supermarket across the country. From the green zebra to the Brandywine, heirloom tomatoes offer near endless opportunities for experimentation. And since the last time I was in the market the heirloom tomatoes were actually less expensive than the standard tomatoes-on-the-vine, there is no better time than the present to start working tomatoes into every part of your meal.
It is amazing to think that, from a fruit that is native to South America and was not introduced to the Old World until about 500 years ago, would come one of Spain’s most ubiquitous dishes: gazpacho. The classic Andalusian gazpacho is a tomato based cold soup that never touches a flame. Fresh tomatoes are blended until smooth with little more added besides some bread for thickening, perhaps a bit of sherry vinegar, garlic and cumin for taste, along with a good dose of olive oil to bring it all together.
Gazpacho crossed the pond many years ago to infiltrate American kitchens as the quintessential no-cook summer dish. Here our recipes tend to look more like V-8 blending uncooked tomatoes with cucumber, green pepper, onion, and maybe even jalapeno or Worcestershire for a kick. No matter how you adapt your own gazpacho, make sure the tomatoes are sun-ripened at the peak of the season and resulting soup will taste like pure summer.
When it comes to preparing fruits and vegetables that are at the peak of the season, the rule is the simpler the preparation the better. Anyone can make a tomato salad, but one of my favorite ways to show off the true essence of the tomato this time of year is with Tomatoes Provençal.
Like with any classic dish, there are many variations on this recipe. At its most basic, tomatoes are cut in half horizontally and placed cut side up in an olive oil coated pan (cut a sliver off the other end of each half to keep the tomato halves stable). The tomatoes are then coated with a healthy amount of olive oil and seasoning then roasted or broiled until just heated through. One then could add a sprinkling of Herbs de Provence, for a real taste of France, or a mixture of bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese can coat the cut sides for a crunchy top when roasted.
Tomatoes are rich in the antioxidant lycopene as well as being a good low calorie source of Vitamins A, C, and K, among others. But most of all, tomatoes this time of year just taste darn good. Set the cans aside until the fall and load up on heirlooms for gazpacho, cherries for salads, and beefsteak for your burger. Whether you say te-mei-tou or ta-ma-tou, tomatoes deserve a place at your table beginning today and for the rest of their sun-ripened season.
Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho
Made with red onion, cucumber, baguette, garlic, salt, black pepper, cumin, olive oil, sherry vinegar, tomatoes
Made with red onion, cucumber, baguette, garlic, salt, black pepper, cumin, olive oil, sherry vinegar, tomatoes
Serves/Makes: 4
- 1 demi baguette
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 7 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 6 cups chopped heirloom tomatoes (Brandywines or other varieties)
- 1/2 cucumber
- 1/2 red onion
- Optional diced ham or hardboiled egg
Cut a 3 inch piece of baguette and soak in a small bowl of water.
Meanwhile, finely chop garlic. Working on a cutting board or with a mortar and pestle, combine garlic with salt, pepper, cumin and 1 T. olive oil. Work with a knife on the cutting board or in the mortar and pestle until the spices form a paste. Place paste aside in a small bowl and mix in the sherry vinegar. Squeeze water from bread and place in a blender along with half of the tomatoes, 3 T. olive oil and the sherry vinegar mixture. Blend until smooth and transfer to a large bowl. Blend the remaining tomatoes with the remaining 3 T. olive oil. Add the second batch of tomatoes to the large bowl. Stir soup to combine and taste then adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate while preparing garnishes. Peel and seed cucumber then finely chop. Finely chop red onion. Dice ham or hard boiled egg if desired to make soup into a complete meal. To serve, top each bowl of gazpacho with a bit of cucumber and onion plus ham and or egg if desired. Serve alongside remaining baguette.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/934-heirloom-tomatoes/