Last Chance for Solanum Lycopersicum

With October finally (and unfortunately) behaving like a normal cold weather month, you have a very limited time to find tasteful, local tomatoes. I’m hoping that my farmer’s market will yield some this weekend, and if so, I know exactly what to do with all of them.

My Oma used to make a tomato “salat” for the Jewish fall holidays. I think her tomatoes came from her very own garden, though. My dad’s garden hadn’t produced enough ripe tomatoes for this, so we had to use Wegmans’.

So in keeping with tradition, my brother, SAG, (with my guidance) whipped up our version of her classic for Yom Kippur dinner.

Tomato Salat

Slice 4 red tomatoes and 1 yellow/orange tomato (although any color combo will do.) Dice 2 shallots and a handful of flat leaf parsley. Layer slices of tomato with shallot and parsley.

(you’ll notice the spiffy grinder SAG is using; we bought that for my dad for his bday)

Add plenty of freshly ground coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to each slice. Then toss gently with extra virgin (I saw this as a short cut to writing “extra virgin olive oil,” so instead of paying homage to Rachael Ray and using “evoo” I’m going to use this phrase from now on) and balsamic vinegar.

Cover with plastic wrap. DO NOT refrigerate. Serve after the flavors have blended, an hour minimum.

**Extra Note** The tomoato mixture will produce lots of extra liquid. You can save that and use it to flavor green salads.