June's Contributor

June's Contributor: Marian E. Enstrom

When people think of June many things come to mind. There's June brides, Graduations, Father's Day, and the start of summer vacation. I, on the other hand, think about what's ready for plucking in my garden. Tomatoes, green onions and basil.

Tomatoes are originally from Central and South America. The Spainards brought the tomato to Europe; and they first treated it as a decoration. There is one story that says Cortez brought tomatoes to Spain straight from Montezuma's garden.

Tomatoes are part of the 'deadly' nightshade family. The fruit is just fine to eat, but the leaves and stem are poisonous.

They are actually a fruit not a vegetable, and a berry to be precise. The plant will first bloom a flower. After the flower fades it begins to grow seed to propogate. This is the tomato - which is an ovary of new potential tomato plants.

The heirloom varities of tomatoes are about the size of a woman's fist and vary in colors of yellows, oranges, and the reds we've come to know so well. With the help of science, many avid horticulturists and master gardeners the tomato now comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes from the poppable grape and cherry tomatoes - to a burger's best friend the beefsteak tomato.

Campbell's first mass produced soup was tomato in 1897. Later, artist Andy Warhol made that same said Campbell's tomato soup can famous.

Tomatoes are very good for the body, too. Most of us know about the vitamin C, but there is also vitamin A, folate, potassium, bioflavinoids and lycopene. Lycopene has a role in protecting the skin against ultraviolet radiation, reducing heart disease risk especially in patient's with gum disease, and supporting prostrate health.

Here's my favorite Tomato recipe: Grandma's Tomato Salad Plus

You will need:

• either a gallon size zip close bag - the freezer kind is more durable, or a large bowl with a lid
• cutting board
• paring knife
• tomato knife
• about 10 fresh basil leaves
• 1 bunch green onions
• 2 beefsteak tomatoes
• 4 medium size tomatoes
• 8 plum tomatoes
• garlic salt or fresh garlic
• black pepper

Each of the 3 tomatoes has a different taste and texture to them. The plum tomatoes are the BIG juice producers - yum.

Remove stems from basil leaves. With paring knife cut leaves along their spine. Then cut cross wise in 1/8" wide ribbons. Place in container.

Remove outermost layer from green onion. With paring knife cut this and the roots off end of green onion. Slice 1/8" thick slices of onion just past where the onion turns green and before the leaves hollow out. Place in container. (The remainder of the green onion can be sliced and put in a freezer bag for future soup stock use.)

Using paring knife remove stems from tomatoes. We are now going to start cutting all the tomatoes. The tomaotes will produce lots of juice. If your board does not have a lip - put it on a cookie pan - you want all the juice you can get.

Place the tomato stem side down. Using a tomato knife cut tomato in half. Lay tomato cut side down. Cut in half from stem to tip. Cut halves in half again the same way. You can continue to slice the tomatoes this way until you have a tomato slice of you desired thickness. I like mine at about a half inch at it's widest point.

If choosing to make Bruscetta - remove the seeds and dice tomato. Place in container.

Fresh garlic or garlic salt. If using fresh garlic - peel 2 cloves, and dice with paring knife. My preference is using garlic salt. The salt draws more juice out of the tomato. As my favorite Yiddish saying goes, "where the salt goes the water follows." Add at least 1 teaspoon.

Add black pepper to taste.

Now shake, shake, shake your tomaotes. This mingles the ingredients and bruises the tomatoes just enough to release more juice.

Let salad sit for at least an hour.

Serve with sliced italian bread.

The longer the tomato salad sits the more juice it will produce. It is great alone or as a relish for your favorite cook out items - a little on a hotdog, hamburger, or brat.

Okay, so you've now been eating tomato salad for 3 days and there's a lot leftover. Let's make some marinara gravy/sauce.

Use a deep pan. Add a few teaspoons of water. Over low heat watch for droplets of the water to dance across the bottom of the pan. Now add some herbs. A pinch of: Oregano, Rosemary, and Thyme. Move around pan with utensil. When you can smell the herbs in the air you will know your pan has been flavored. Flavoring a pan cuts down on the amount of herbs needed for the recipe.

If you would like to have meat in your sauce - add to pan now and brown.

Add tomato salad to pan.

Add 1 can tomato paste and 1 can tomato sauce - medium or large is your choice.

Want more garlic add it to your recipe now. You do not want to add your garlic too early in the cooking process. Burning/over cooking garlic makes it bitter. That's about it. Cook over low heat. Stir to keep from sticking or burning. It's ready when it's your desired thickness. Depending on your patience factor and keeping the temptaion of garlic at bay cook for at least an hour to thicken up the gravy/sauce.

If you want you can slice up some nice onion, green pepper, zucchini, mushrooms...and add before the tomato salad - cook down a bit and the continue on with your own homemade marinara. This recipe jars well as long as it remains meatless.