Kelly the Culinarian: Cooking with Kelly: 1-pound tomato three ways

Monday, October 8, 2007

Cooking with Kelly: 1-pound tomato three ways

First of all, I got a new fridge today! There’s also new lighting fixtures in the apartment that make it feel a little more homey. Tim adopted a cat as well, which we think we'll name Norris. It’s been an exciting day.

Secondly, after much consideration, consulting and pondering, I decided what to do with the 1-pound tomato from Eastern Market. I made a three-course tomato-centric dinner and every bite was delicious.

For a little tasting, I made a simple avocado and tomato salad dressing with lime juice, salt and pepper. When you’re working with quality ingredients, sometimes the simplest preparation is best.

Next, I made bruschetta. I toasted angle-cut pieces of the sourdough baguette I bought using my electric skillet. Then, I rubber a clove of garlic over the toasted surface to get some garlic flavor in there. I topped it with fresh basil leaves cut into little ribbons and more of the tomato, this time chopped.

For the main course, I made my most complicated kitchen-less dish so far. I cooked some whole-wheat spaghetti in the microwave. This required boiling the water in the microwave, then adding the pasta and salt and boiling for about eight minutes longer in the microwave.

The sauce was a simple concoction to let my fresh ingredients shine. I let two cloves of finely diced garlic cook in a tablespoon of olive oil with about a ¼ cup of chopped red onions until the onions were translucent, about three minutes. Then I added the rest of the chopped tomato, probably about ¾ of a pound. I let that bubble away and reduce for about 20 minutes before turning off the heat on the electric skillet and topping the pasta with it, then adding a bit of shredded Parmesan on top, for good measure.

This whole meal could have easily been vegan friendly with the subtraction of the Parmesan. I may have eaten a pound of tomato in this, but it was the best tomato I’ve had in a long time.

19 comments:

Raks said...

Your way of explaination is really simple and easy to understand...unique blog you have..!First time here...Thanx for dropping in my blog ....:))

Viji said...

Kelly nice to know you and see you. You look pretty. Thanks for dropping by. You have a nice blog. Will keep visiting. Viji

daphne said...

That's 3 excellent ways of using the tomatoes. Well done...
avocado with tomato huh. nice.

stay-at-home mum said...

Wow! 3 dishes with one humble tomato. You are fantastic! And they all look so yummilicious too! You are so right and so well said - "when working with quality ingredients, the simpliest preparation is best"

Taylor said...

I always wondered why any one would buy those pre-cooked packages of pasta and rice, but I think I've found my answer...no kitchen!

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

Well, a fridge is progress -- and it sounds like you made the most of that tomato, which wouldn't have gone into the fridge anyway!

FH said...

You are putting that kitchen to good use, all three of them looks delicious!:)

Swaruchy said...

kelly....at last u got ur fridgs....great.....Now u will start rolling recipes I guess ....the bruschetta looks yummm....Nice salad....:-)

Brilliant Asylum said...

Was that entire meal from one tomato? I am impresssed. The top photo is gorgeous too.

People St.Clair said...

All of it looks and sounds delicious and from one tomato. Wow! The tomato and avacado salad will become a regular salad at my house. :)

tigerfish said...

I always like good fresh tomatoes in bruschetta and a classic tomato-based pasta sauce, all like yours :)

Retno Prihadana said...

I love bruschetta, thanks for sharing Kelly.

Sylvia said...

I had a cat too,enormous and white.I´m sure you enjoy his friendship.Love the way that you explain the recipes, pretty clear. And congrats s for your brand new fridge.

urban vegan said...

TOmatoes are so versatile. I think brischetta with tomato is one of the best dishes in the world--so elegant in its simplicity.

A Mature Student said...

Oooh, that reminds me. We tried something like that (your bruchetta with tomatoes, etc) at a Tapas bar and it was absolutely delicious!

Fruity said...

hmmm.. tomatoes. So many ways of eating this fruit as veggie.
Fruity

Jenna Z said...

This reminds me of my husband, who always gets the "pound of apple" aka a HUGE red delicious apple when we go shopping. I think they taste like cardboard, I guess he's more a quantity over quality kind of guy when it comes apples.

Ti said...

looks yummy...

TBC said...

Hi Kelly,
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
I like your tomato-centric meal:)
The salad sounds pretty interesting...never tried the combination before. I love bruschetta and just made some over the weekend.