What's Good On: Tomatoes

Tomatoes are at their peak right now, and the last stretch of the season is when they taste best. A thick slice with salt on it is a fine snack, and we eat plenty of them that way. Here are a few other things we reach for when the counter fills up.

Recipes

Tomato Sandwich

Untoasted white bread, mayonnaise, thick slices of heirloom tomato, and then only pepper and salt. Grind the Tellicherry Black Peppercorn fresh, and finish with Pacific Flake Sea Salt , hand-harvested from fire-evaporated Northern California seawater, in flakes light enough to pinch and scatter. Five minutes start to finish, and we recommend eating it over the sink.

Voodoo Tomato Salad

Heirlooms and halved grape tomatoes, cucumber rounds, and thin red onion on a platter, dressed with red wine vinegar and olive oil and finished with a couple of teaspoons of Voodoo . It's our chunky New Orleans seasoning salt, built on sel de mer and alderwood smoked salt, with whole brown and yellow mustard seeds and a mild fruity heat from Aleppo flake. Ten minutes, no tossing, and no bowl to wash.

Pan de Tomate

Make this one when your tomatoes are too soft to slice cleanly. Grate a pound of heirlooms on the largest holes of a box grater, stir the pulp together with minced garlic and Fleur de Sel , and spread it over ciabatta you've brushed with olive oil and broiled. Then sprinkle Piment d'Espelette over the top, the fruity Basque chile known as the Champagne of peppers, with fresh basil and one more drizzle of oil.

Berbere Sheet Pan Tomatoes

Halve a pound of vine tomatoes, toss them with sliced white onion, olive oil, Berbere , and a little Pacific Flake Sea Salt, then roast them cut side up at 400°F for twenty-five minutes, until they slump and the edges caramelize. Berbere is our salt-free Ethiopian blend, with heat from japonés chiles and ginger and a warm sweetness underneath from cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Twenty-five minutes gives you enough time to make the rest of dinner.

Just Add Spice

Half of what we do with tomatoes in August involves no recipe at all. Just slice and shake.

For a sliced tomato fresh from the garden, Garlic Salt is one of our favorites: Italian sea salt and California garlic granules with white pepper and a fines herbes mix of chervil, tarragon, chives, marjoram, and parsley. Use it when you'd otherwise reach for plain salt.

Lemon Herb Pepper is a salt-free mix with lemon and orange peel, black pepper, garlic, oregano, and marjoram. Especially good on tomatoes with fresh mozzarella.

Nigella Caesar shaken dry over tomato wedges gets you most of a Caesar without the lettuce. Nigella seeds, mustard powder, garlic, and Worcestershire, and it's vegan.

Green Za'atar sprinkled over slices is savory and nutty, with toasted sesame, sumac, oregano, dill, and thyme. The sumac is tart and lemony, which is what makes it work against a sweet tomato. If you want something more substantial, mix the blend with olive oil into a paste, spread it on a pita, toast it, and pile the tomatoes on top.

Enjoy your bounty!

 - World Spice