Sidetracked By Weather

Well, we're back from vacation and I was all excited to post recipes to USE UP all the tomatoes I should be reaping from my CSA box and garden (6-7 plants, including a grape tomato plant, a yellow mini pear, two or three brandywines, and another plant that has some almost plum tomatoes that are a deep purplish-red with green stripes on the shoulders (no idea what it is, and don't think it's what I thought I bought, but I like it!)), but instead we've had wave after wave of heavy rain, wind, and even some tornadoes in Chicago. And as a result, my tomato plants dropped fruit, burst fruit, and generally have stopped all the good things they were doing before we left for vacation. I wanted to post a bruschetta recipe, a simple fresh tomato pasta, and others. I also wanted to ask for your favorite recipes.

Instead, I am using up my CSA boxes (received a fruit box this week, which included several tiny white nectarines, gala apples, yet another type of pluot (pretty tasty, these), tiny, perfect, muscat grapes, red haven peaches (not from Michigan though, what a disappointment!), and some gorgeous red pears (star krimson -- not ripe yet).

If I had all these good tomatoes, one delicious thing I would make is bruschetta. Here's how I do it:

Simple Tomato Bruschetta
Dice 3-4 very ripe tomatoes.
Put them in a bowl with sea salt and some freshly ground pepper.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Add shredded basil.
Add a clove or two of minced garlic.
Add a bit of balsamic vinegar.
Give all a stir.

Toast (the right number of) slices of good bread (we like the harvest boule from Trader Joe's) under the broiler (after spraying with olive oil and rubbing with garlic) until brown; flip and toast other side.

Pile the delicious tomato mixture on toast and eat immediately. Enjoy with a lovely glass of wine. Sigh with joy.

(I would be posting a lovely picture here if only I had a surfeit with which to make this embodiment of summer. Maybe next week...)