We’re in the heat of tomato harvesting. And eating.
BLTs, Caprese Salads, Fresh Salsa, Omelets, etc etc.
I’m not saying I’m tired of fresh homegrown tomatoes. I’m just saying I’m looking for a little variety…spice of life, and all that.
In the kitchen one evening this week, I remembered something my grandmother used to fix in the summer. Something off the beaten path. Something unexpected. Something…well, perhaps, a bit weird. Although, knowing Granny’sΒ ability to improvise in the kitchen, I should hardly have been surprised.
The first time she asked me to try it, my 14-year-old brain thought-No way! Not that I was opposed to either main ingredient. I just never paired them up in my brain before.
But she rarely steered me wrong, in culinary matters or life in general. So I tried it. And liked it.
A peanut butter and tomato sandwich.
She made it open-faced with toasted white bread, spread with creamy peanut butter (although crunchy works, too, and adds some interesting texture.) A thick slice of beefsteak tomato dotted with coarse salt topped the peanut butter.
Sweet. Savory. Delicious.
Do you have a snack that’s decidedly weird yet oddly delicious? Something that others might turn up their nose at but tastes divine (or at least, spark those neurons in our brain that remind us of days gone by.) If so, do tell…I’d love to hear about it!
I. Will. Never! Tire of homegrown tomatoes. I’ll bet I eat 20-30 cherries a day on my own, just ‘foraging’ through my small garden space. Fresh is best, but diced fresh Romas stirred into stir frys or in soups is pretty awesome too. Happy summering!
PB and T’s go together like peas and carrots. π
I agree! I think at least 1/3 of our diet is tomatoes in July and August. We try and gorge enough to last us through the tomato-less months π
The dry, tasteless pithy palette of a grocery store tomato is all I need to envision to keep me in line through the glut.
What an interesting way to use fresh tomatoes! I will try it immediately.
We’ve been graced with a hummingbird this past week but they haven’t let me take their photos yet:-)
Still trying to get my daughter to try it…someday π
If I had a tomato gauge, I’d be at overload so an option to enjoy one with sun butter (peanut butter is not in our cupboards because of a family member’s allergy) sounds interesting. I’ll give it a try tomorrow. π
There’s very little a homegrown tomato can’t make delicious! π
I made myself a sun butter and tomato sandwich this week. It was pretty tasty. π My husband thought I was nuts, but hey…
Wow,I am going to have to think about that? PB &T is a new concept. Believe it or not it is actually too hot here for tomatoes to set fruit, they are imported from Georgia as is corn. Come back this winter.
Sometimes we have trouble with fruit set in August, but not this year π Although the blight has filtered in to the tomato patch so we’re just hoping to be able to harvest as much as we can before it wreaks too much damage.
Oh fantastic! I’ve been doing this for years. Yay .. Someone else knows how good it tastes π
I’m not surprised someone of your good taste would already know the delights of the PB&T. Raising my virtual sandwich in toast (pun intended) to you…Cheers! π
And back at you π
That is an intriguing combination. I will have to give it a try. Our tomatoes are coming on but painfully slowly. I’m looking forward to a glut to can but for now I’m eating the leading edge of the wave as it comes.
We always look forward to the few weeks where we can eat as many homegrowns as we can stand. Cheers to the tomato patch! π
That is unique.
Those tomatoes look wonderful but I’ m not sure about the peanut butter. I like them on bread and butter with salt and chopped raw onions with herbs
That sounds delicious as well! One can hardly go wrong when a homegrown tomato is involved π
i shouldn’t say never! but i hope to try it someday. with homegrown tomato that is π your picture makes it delicious π
Peanut butter and tomato sandwich isn’t weird! I love it π
That’s ’cause you’re awesome! π
Well, thank you π
Hmmm . . . I’m not sure. I think I’m more of a PB and bacon kind of gal.
How ’bout PB, Tomato AND bacon? I might have to try that! π
Report back!
I prefer oil and blue cheese crumbles, I’ll have to think about the peanut butter though. I do like a dollop of PB thrown in with chicken Lo Mein though, is that odd?
I’ll have to try the blue cheese and crumbles! And I like a little peanut butter in my Lo Mein, too! π Perhaps my favorite use of a homegrown tomato, though? Ben’s Summer Sandwich: http://wp.me/p1nEe2-9e Cheers!
haha, and I thought I was so unique with the peanut butter!
Since you posted that about the mayo sandwich I’ve been asking around and was surprised to find out it’s fairly popular. Who knew?
We look forward to our first “Summer Sandwich” every tomato season! π
Once I got past the that’s-bizarre factor, it started to sound good.
I was the same way…but tasting is believing! But, caveat emptor, the tomato can’t be one of those tasteless, store-bought abominations masquerading as a tomato π
Which is why I probably won’t try it here. Real tomatoes are hard to come by in the UK.
Those are some of the saddest words in the (Queen’s) English language π¦
My hubby would like this only he would add tomato sauce too!
Hmmmm. I may have to try that π
Tomatoes fresh from the vine are delicious.
It’s also peach season over here, so we made a fresh salad topped with grilled peaches, cheese and pecans, and a peach cake which are both divine.
Mmmmm, peaches are my other summertime favorite. Those tasty treats yo mentioned sound delicious!
I will try that as soon as the bowl fills to the point of us racing to eat tomatoes before they spoil. My favorite sandwich in the world is tomato and butter, and not just a thin glaze of butter, a healthy amount. This makes sense.
I have tried this twice since you published this post. I like it very much.
Wonderful! I’ll be having at least one, probably more, this weekend! π
I have some tomatoes left, but I don’t think I could do that. . .
Hmm, interesting but the best things in life are the unexpected pleasures. π
Indeed! You never know when your next little pleasure might appear out of nowhere π
The poor farm kid, me, often had a lunch at the end of the field that consisted of.
Potato’s cut crossways into a sort-a round shape. Fried in lard and layered on toasted bread with a yellow mustard spread. Unlike mayonnaise, mustard would not go bad in the summer heat. Grin.. to this day it is still a favored summer sandwich.
Happy Gardening
That sounds delicious! Our field lunches almost always consisted of PB&J π
I…..might actually try that. (And I rarely try anything new.) That being said I like tomatoes, I like toasted bread, and I like peanut butter…so why not? π
Why not, indeed! π Someone suggested I add bacon…this could be the stroke of genius that takes this sandwich over the top! Is there anything that can’t be made better by adding bacon? π Cheers, Ben
Sounds like an interesting combo. I don’t normally get homegrown anything these days, but after visiting my dad in Illinois I’ve been filling up on tomatoes and cucumbers…. best ever.
Glad to hear you have access to some homegrown, at least for a bit. Food for the tummy as well as the soul π Cheers, Ben