Tomatoes are my most favorite veggies and the only edible plant (besides cooking herbs) that we grow in our yard. We don’t have much of a planting space around the house, but whatever little we have Ilya turned into very tall raised beds. Which is perfect for tomatoes because, as those of you who grow tomatoes know, the deeper you plant tomatoes, the larger the root system, and the larger the root system, the larger the tops of the plants. And the larger the tops, the more tomatoes you’re going to harvest.
We usually plant cherry and grape tomatoes simply because Seattle summer is quite short and other kinds may not have enough time to mature and ripen to perfection. Our cherry tomatoes always turn out great and taste like little sugar bombs, as our neighbor and friend calls them.
The best way to consume them is to pop them into your mouth right from the plant, but when we get tired of this simple way, we turn them into salads.
Our two favorites are tomato salad with paprika and cucumber and tomato salad.
The first one I adopted from my mom-in-law. All you need is good sweet tomatoes (cherry or large varieties, doesn’t matter - just make sure they are tasty), ground paprika, sweet onion, salt, freshly ground black pepper and some neutral tasting oil like grapeseed or such.
Halve the tomatoes, is using cherry, or slice into wedges, if using lager kinds. Quarter the onions and thinly slice. Combine the veggies in a bowl and season with oil, salt, black pepper and lots(!) of paprika. Toss well and serve.
Occasionally, just for a little kick I add a handful of fresh arugula from our garden or a mix of bitter greens.
If you don’t serve the salad right away, the tomatoes will release lots of juice, so you can eat it almost like a soup. Perfect for a hot weather instead of gazpacho.
The second salad is my all-time favorite. I've been eating it since I remember myself. It's a very Russian salad and consists of tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet onions, green onions, dill and unrefined sunflower oil. The last ingredient is no less important than good quality tomatoes and cukes. You can buy this unique tasting and very fragrant oil in any Russian store/European deli or HT Market (they have a Russian isle there too). However, if it's not available in your area, replace with grapeseed or olive oil.
Slice tomatoes and cucumbers into similar size wedges. Coarsely chop a sweet onion. Slice green onions and finely chop dill. Combine all the veggies and herbs in a bowl and season with salt, black pepper and sunflower oil. Toss well and serve right away.
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