The Best Part of Late Summer

It's the middle of August, the dreaded "dog days" of summer. The weather is often hot and humid and leaves you feeling like a limp dishrag by noon. The upside? In general, the availability of fresh corn, tomatoes and cucumbers, along with a host of other great local produce. I love fresh local sweet corn. I can make a meal out of three ears with just a spoonful of my basil pesto pasta salad and some freshly sliced tomatoes.

I think my absolute favorite thing this time of year is the fresh tomatoes. After 10 months of making due with the plum tomatoes and little grape tomatoes available year round, I've forgotten just what a tomato really tastes like until I get the first bite of a juicy ripe locally grown one. The juicy, sweet-tartness of a tomato is heavenly this time of year, and I really can't get enough of them. Don't need to do anything complicated or fancy to them either. I'm fine with slicing one and sprinkling it with a little kosher salt and some freshly ground black pepper. The simple bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich at this time of year makes you wonder why you even try them any other time of the year. I've come to enjoy the peppery bite of arugula in place of the standard iceberg lettuce in my BLT, but even if you can't get arugula, a BLT is delightful this time of year. I do not fritter away my time cooking bacon these days either. Not when I can get that fully cooked bacon that you crisp up in the microwave! The same number of slices in a package of the pre-cooked stuff as are in most of the uncooked packages, and I don't have to figure out what to do with all the bacon grease that comes from cooking the darn stuff? It's a no-brainer!

Take away the bacon and the lettuce and you have another all-time favorite sandwich of mine: the tomato sandwich. Elemental simplicity. I happen to like toasted whole wheat bread, but there are tomato sandwich devotees that insist on plain white toasted Wonder Bread. Aside from the nutty flavor of the wheat bread, I just happen to think it's a good idea to mitigate the use of real mayonnaise (and I do mean mayonnaise, not Miracle Whip) with some whole grain and fiber. Lots of thinly sliced fresh tomatoes that are sprinkled with plenty of black pepper and just a sprinkle of salt. By the time you're done, it's a sloppy little mess, but it's delightful and something I just plain don't make any other time of the year because fresh, fresh, fresh tomatoes, preferably picked off the vines at my dad's, are essential.

I love plain old sliced tomatoes, as mentioned above, but this is the time of year that I actually make a nice Caprese Salad. It's worth the fresh mozzarella from Carfagna's and makes use of that fresh basil and good olive oil that are usually sitting around in my refrigerator and in the cupboard. It's a nice refreshing main dish type of salad for me when paired with a nice crusty roll and some fresh plums for dessert. I also make a recipe from my paternal grandmother's kitchen. I peeled and slice fresh ripe tomatoes and soak them in a mixture of white vinegar, sugar and water, along with a thinly sliced onion. A little salt and pepper round this one out and it goes well with just about every summer table I make. Lasts a couple days in the fridge, too, which makes life simpler.

Of course, on the salad front, I also choose to mix chopped tomatoes, red onions, green and/or red peppers, cucumbers and chopped kalamata olives with lemon juice or red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. Maybe some fresh oregano or mint or parsley or some combination of all of the above, along with some finely minced garlic. Sometimes, I just throw it all in the blender and wind up with a gazpacho for a change of pace.

Summer and tomatoes. Nothing goes together better. And that is my paean to the tomato.