Tomato, Watermelon, and Feta Salad

One small watermelon
2 large tomatoes or a few medium ones. Try an heirloom for this recipe.
1 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese. (this is optional…but its so good)
Third of a cup coarsely chopped basil and cilantro tossed together
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic or white wine vinegar
Salt and fresh pepper

Slice and seed the water melon into three-quarter inch pieces. Core the tomatoes and slice into the same size pieces. Stir together lightly the toms, watermelon, herbs, oil and vinegar ( if using balsamic drizzle it over the top after mixing everything else so as not to muddy the colors). Serve with salt, fresh pepper, and cheese on top.

New Potato Gratin with Tomatoes

2 pounds new potatoes
Salt and fresh pepper
4 medium tomatoes
¼ cup olive oil
2 onions, quartered and sliced thinly
¼ cup dried thyme
3 garlic cloves, sliced
¼ lemon, sliced thinly
1/3 cup kalamata or nicoise olives, pitted and chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400. Boil potatoes in salted water for 4 minutes and pull them out –don’t dump the water! Rinse potatoes in cold water to stop them from cooking further. Plunge tomatoes in the hot water for 20 seconds each and rinse with cold water. Peel off the skin, quarter, and remove the seeds. Coarsely chop ¾ of tomatoes and thinly slice the rest.

Heat half the oil in a skillet and add the onions, thyme and pepper. Sauté until the onions wilt completely and begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Add this mixture to the bottom of a baking dish and layer in all the ingredients, finishing the top with more salt and pepper as well as the remaining oil. Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and finish for another 20-30 minutes or until the potatoes and fully tender.

Freezing Tomatoes

First, think about how you would like to use your tomatoes over the winter and how much room you have to keep them in the freezer. This will guide you in the best way to freeze them.

• Freezing whole toms gives you the most options as they can be used one at a time to make chunky style soups or sauces. The downside is whole tomatoes take up a lot of freezer space.
• Making a sauce or puree is space efficient when freezer space is limited but doesn’t allow for much in the way of “texture”. You are also forced to thaw a whole ziplock at a time.

Freezing whole:

Boil 2 quarts of water. Core tomatoes and cut a small ‘X’ on the bottom of each one, just piercing the skin. Plunge the toms in the boiling water a few at a time for 1 minute. Pull them out and run them under cold water or place them in an ice-water bath until all the heat has left them. Starting at the ‘X,’ use a fingernail or a butter knife to peel back the skin.

Place tomatoes on a cooking sheet so that they are not touching and freeze. Pull them out in a few hours and pack them in ziplocks. Use them one by one all winter.

Freezing sauce/puree:

Boil 2 quarts of water. Core tomatoes and cut a small ‘X’ on the bottom of each one, just piercing the skin. Plunge the toms in the boiling water a few at a time for 1 minute. Pull them out and run them under cold water or place them in an ice-water bath until all the heat has left them. Starting at the ‘X’, use a fingernail or a butter knife to peel back the skin.

After the skins are gone you can roast them in the oven -6 hours at 200 with the seeds removed, or cook them down on the stove starting with onions, garlic, etc.

Seeding and pureeing them is also an easy option that provides a good base for lots of stuff.

To freeze, fill your ziplock, jar or tub no more than ¾ in from the top of the container, this will allow room for the contents to expand a bit. Try to place bags on a flat surface in the freezer. This makes the ziplocks more modular for moving around with your other frozen stuff.