Marty McFly had the chance to change his future, one fading photo at a time. When it comes to my diet, I've got just one wish for what I could tell my 8-year-old self. I'd dive back to the linoleum table in my grandmother's Chicago apartment and explain that tomatoes are not just edible -- they can be the best thing around for weeks at a time.
Heirloom tomatoes are starting to pop up on menus and at farmers markets around town. Now is when you should not make the same mistake I made for close to two decades.
Tomatoes were always the food that required bargaining. If I ate a tomato, my grandmother's tin of cookies would magically appear from the top of the dresser in her bedroom. The other time-tested measure of getting me to eat a bite of tomato was to drown it in salt. To this day, my tolerance for salt is otherworldly -- a dish needs to be basically sea water for me to complain.
But my perception of tomatoes changed -- for the better -- at an heirloom tomato dinner at 40 Sardines shortly before I became a resident of Kansas City. Chef Debbie Gold brought out a series of delicate plates that showcased local heirloom tomatoes. Some were spicy, some sweet, and all left me wanting more.
Now, I don't need coaxing to eat a tomato. I'll bite into a beefsteak tomato like an apple and I used crushed tomatoes in nearly every pasta dish we cook at home. In some ways, I'm making up for what my younger self didn't understand. In reality, tomatoes are simply one of the most versatile ingredients in my fridge.
So take advantage of heirloom tomato season. One place to start is Cafe Sebastienne in the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. They've got an heirloom tomato salad made with Green Dirt Sheep's Milk Cheese and are bringing back their heirloom tomato tart this weekend. Those who still need coaxing can ease into it with Chef Jennifer Maloney's BLT which has heirloom tomatoes, brie, applewood smoked bacon and roasted garlic aoli on sourdough.
[Image via Flickr: tvol]
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I, too, wasted my entire childhood and young adulthood "not liking" tomatoes. If only I had given them a shot sooner...
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