A Little “Cooking” from Cuisine of the Completely Obvious

I know, I know, but it’s been a long week, and my original post idea turned out to be closed. Anyway, on with the food! One of my favorite foods is the tomato. Not these anemic orange Franken-tomatoes you see at the market, bred for durability rather than flavor. Even their redder brethren, those red, viney ones still get mushy, and taste is secondary. But now we are in the high season of tomatoes! Bursting and flavorful – whether they be beefsteak, cherry, heirloom. They are sweet, delicate things, which you bring home for a little extra ripening in the kitchen window.

Some sweetooths like them with sugar, but I like to slice them up with salt and pepper, a little olive oil and a few drops of balsamic vinegar. At home, sometimes I’ll add bufala mozzarella for a little caprese (which I don’t eat in restaurants – I can’t explain it, it just doesn’t interest me), and I recently discovered that Whole Foods carries burrata, a little gooier, maybe slightly saltier than bufala, which I like much better.

Then there’s the tomato sandwich, made with toast (otherwise it gets soggy – it might anyway.) Dressed with almost anything – mayonnaise, or butter, with basil occasionally, or olive oil. I don’t think I can choose a favorite.

It’s been hot these past couple of weeks, maybe too hot, but there are upsides. And those upsides come in just about every color – but blue.

Photo by Jacy for LAist