Tomatoes!

If ADD had known when ADD was in college that food historian was a possible profession, ADD's career path might have been different. Alas, ADD constrained merely to be an eager audience for the findings of food historians such as Richard Wrangham, whose interesting and persuasive book, Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, not only presents a persuasive case for the role of cooked food in human evolution, but also puts the kibosh on contemporary raw food faddists' goofy assertion that cooking destroys enzymes in food, and therefore eating raw food is much more nutritious than eating food that is cooked.

Wrangham considers a lot of fascinating issues, such as the amount of time great apes spend masticating their raw food, and the comparative sizes of the intestinal tracts and brains in apes and humans to make the case that raw food simply cannot supply sufficient nutrition to satisfy the energy requirements of the human brain. The discovery of cooking by early hominids created more easily digested nutrition, which allowed shorter, less energy-consuming guts and larger, more energy-intensive brains to evolve.

ADD have nothing against raw foodists, and even find their dietary and nutritional beliefs, devoid as they are of scientific merit or even common sense, sort of charming, and one would have to admit that their regimen of salads and juices, and more salads and juices, has a certain noble asceticism. Yet, there is that troublesome issue of sufficient nourishment to the brain...

But, all snark aside, I want to be quick to assert my long-held devotion to one food that I consume raw in as many ways as I can find—the tomato. Locally-grown tomatoes in season are sublime. And local farmers' willingness to grow such a gorgeously colored and subtly flavored range of new and old varieties should be celebrated even more than I am doing right now.

What better summertime snack is there than a warm tomato, sliced and salted, and eaten over the sink? What is more refreshing than a cup of cold gazpacho?

The dishes ADD going to suggest here hardly need recipes. I seldom make gazpacho exactly the same way twice, the mix of vegetables depending on what is in the fridge that needs to be used up. Caprese salads are so simple as to be almost simple-minded, but I want to highlight the superb cherry and salad tomatoes local farmers have been gifting us with. And spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce is the ideal meal when the temperature and humidity are in the nineties, you are tired and sweaty and can barely stand the thought of cooking dinner.

Our lunch gazpacho preference is a chunky soup, made with dead-ripe tomatoes, cukes, bell peppers and basil, with a base of tomato juice or V-8 juice. This elegant smooth yellow gazpacho is my version of one I was served at a Barcelona restaurant some years ago, a soup that is very impressive as a start for a dinner party.

Raw tomato pasta sauce

You could sauté the tomatoes and vegetables in olive oil until just barely softened if you want, but then that wouldn't be a raw sauce, would it? Either way, this and the salad that follows are great ways to use the numerous varieties of small tomatoes found at local farmers' markets.

• 1 pound rigatoni or other tubular pasta


• 2 tablespoons olive oil


• ½ cup opinion, peeled and chopped


• ½ green or yellow bell pepper, seeds removed and chopped


• 2 cups cherry tomatoes or other salad tomatoes


• salt and pepper


• ½ cup fresh basil, julienned


• ½ cup fresh mozzarella, cut into small cubes


• ¼ cup fruity olive oil


• grated parmesan

Cook the pasta according to package directions in well-salted boiling water. When al dente, drain well and toss with a little olive oil while you make the sauce.

In a bowl, stir together lightly all the vegetables. Add mozzarella, basil and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste and toss to combine.

Place warm pasta in a large bowl. Add the tomato sauce. Toss to mix well. Serve immediately, topped with grated parmesan. Serves 4.

Yellow tomato gazpacho

• 4 to 5 large yellow tomatoes, peeled, cored, seeded and cut into chunks, about 6 cups total


• 1 yellow pepper, cored, seeded and cut into chunks


• 1 or 2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks, about 1 cup


• 1 white onion, peeled and cut into chunks


• 1 clove garlic


• juice of half a lemon


• 1 teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)


• 1 cup (or more) vegetable stock

For garnish:

• 1 red tomato, seeded and diced


• 1 green or red bell pepper, seeded and diced


• 1 small onion, peeled and diced or ½ cup green onion, chopped


• ¼ cup fresh basil, minced


• ½ cup croutons

Prepare the vegetables for the soup by peeling, seeding and cutting them into chunks. Push the garlic clove through a garlic press. Mix the garlic pulp into the lemon juice, and stir in one teaspoon of salt. Let the garlic stand in the lemon juice for several minutes. This will temper the harsh bite of the raw garlic.

Put all the other vegetables in the hopper of a food processor or blender, and puree. Add the garlic-lemon juice-salt mixture, and combine well. Pour the soup into a strainer or food mill, and force through, discarding any solid pieces or foamy residue. Add vegetable stock to thin out the soup to your preference. Taste, and adjust seasonings if necessary. Chill well.

To serve, place a small pile of the garnishes, one tablespoon or more of each, in the bottom of a soup bowl. Pour the chilled soup into a glass pitcher. At the table, pour a serving of yellow gazpacho into each bowl, over the garnishes. Pass additional garnishes if desired. Serves 4 to 6 as a first course.

Very cute caprese salad

• 2 cups cherry or salad tomatoes of various colors and shapes


• 1 medium cucumber, peeled and seeded, if you prefer


• 1 bunch thin green onion


• 1 ripe avocado, peeled and cut into chunks (optional)


• ¼ cup basil leaves, cut into chiffonade (thin strips)


• ½ cup fresh mozzarella, cut into chunks about the same size as the tomatoes, or use bocconcini, small balls of mozzarella (the Italian name means small mouthfuls :P )

Arrange all ingredients on a serving plate and lightly dress with Balsamic vinaigrette.

Balsamic vinaigrette dressing:

• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar


• ½ teaspoon sugar


• ¼ cup olive oil


• salt and pepper to taste

Add ingredients to a bowl or salad cruet. Whisk well, or shake to combine. Makes about 1/3 cup. Dress salad lightly, and enjoy the fun!