Summer tomatoes!

To all of my South American readers I am well aware that it is "winter" here, but as you know our growing season is year round.  To my N. American peeps, farmer's markets and perhaps your own garden are about to flourish with a plethora of summer favorites.  I know I used to have more tomatoes, zucchini and herbs than I knew what to do with.  So, I'm thinking that my next few posts will contain ideas on what to do with all of those fresh grown veggies.  Today we'll focus on tomatoes.  Oh the possibilities! 

Just today I roasted a large pan of tomatoes.  This is the base of so many of my recipes.  I recieved a question about why I roast my tomatoes before I use them.  The answer is multi-fold.  First of all, it's sooooo much easier to peel a roasted tomato.  I used to boil them for a minute, drop them in ice water and still struggle to get all of the skin off.  I've found that when I slice them in half lengthwise, lay them cut side down on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and throw them into a really hot oven (450 or so) the skin bubbles up and separates on it's own after 10-15 minutes.  I remove the pan from the oven, let them cool for a few minutes then pluck the skin right off. 

Another reason that I love to roast my tomatoes is that it intensifies and concentrates the flavor.  Plus you have the fabulous pan drippings which add great flavor to any recipe.  Another benefit... studies have shown recently that the acid in canned tomatoes causes BPA to leak into the contents of the can.  I'm sure you've heard of the health risks of BPA.  I do what I can to avoid consuming it.  I figure the less processed food I have in my diet the better.  Plus, I find that roasted tomatoes are much better than canned tomatoes anyway, and really it's not much work.  Try it once and you will be a convert.

Now what to do with the roasted tomatoes?  The possibilities are endless.  You can make pasta sauce, salsa, soup, chili (I made this today-yum!).   Basically anything you'd use processed tomatoes of any kind for, you can replace with roasted fresh tomatoes. 

Here's an idea for garden fresh salsa:

Roast however many tomatoes you wish
finely chop some sweet onion (about half the amount volume-wise that you have tomato)
Finely chop and add cilantro (as much or as little as you like) I use a ton!
add a clove or two of minced garlic (fresh is better than from the jar)
squeeze in some fresh lime juice (once again depends on amount of tomatoes and desired taste)
you might want to add a dash of cumin
salt and pepper

sometimes I add in finely chopped red pepper and/or cooked sweet corn.

Let me know if you try this and what you think.  I'd love to hear about your measurements, modifications and additions.  Until then, happy dipping!