Heirloom Tomatoes

I started planting heirloom tomatoes in my garden just a few years ago and have never looked back. No, they’re not going to win any conventional beauty contests, but like regular garden tomatoes, their taste is far superior to any perfectly round, plump red tomato you’ll find in your neighborhood grocery store.

An heirloom is an open-pollinated or naturally-pollinated (non-hybrid) cultivar of tomato which dates back to the early 50's when people saved their seeds each year for next year's crop.  They look odd and deformed but taste amazing. I like to call them the Steve Buscemi of Tomatoes because they’re “kinda funny-lookin’” but outperform their contemporaries. There are hundreds, even thousands of different varieties each with their own unique color, taste and shape. I also love the names: Green Zebra, Mr. Stripey and Purple Russian to list a few.



two purple cherokees and one brandywine

Tomatoes are loaded with antioxidants, dietary fiber and vitamins, and they’re naturally low in calories. When cooked, their antioxidant (lycopene) content increases which can help protect you from certain cancers and also give your skin a healthy, youthful glow; but they are still loaded with health benefits when eaten raw. And, I recently read that tomatoes are an aphrodisiac which might be the reason behind that healthy glow.

Heirloom or not, if you grow your own tomatoes or buy them at a farmer’s market, you know how amazing they taste with little or no enhancement. Their intense flavor can stop you in your tracks. I like them naked, or with a simple dusting of sea salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Here I have some with goat cheese and basil….

 And here they are made into a pizza…

Enjoy your fresh garden or farmer’s market tomatoes now….in a month or so they’ll be a distant, fond memory, but something to look forward to next summer for sure.

"The Greatest Wealth is Health" - Roman Poet Virgil

"Let Food be thy Medicine and Medicine be thy Food." - Hippocrates

Pistachio-Herb Pesto

If you have a garden, you most likely have an overload of fresh herbs this time of year and making pesto is probably on your to-do list.  Here is a recipe I’ve been making for a few years now and it’s truly wonderful.  It uses a variety of fresh herbs, lemon zest and pistachios – one of my favorite nuts.  You can use any nut you like, I think walnuts would also work well with this recipe or you could use the traditional pesto nut: pine nuts. 

The list of health promoting properties that fresh herbs have is enormous.  For example, parsley which is a main ingredient in this pesto helps with circulation and is a natural diuretic.  Rosemary is a powerful antioxidant, stimulates the immune system and fights the signs of aging.  Oregano is also a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent.  And the list goes on and on…

There are unlimited uses for pesto with pasta being the most popular; you can also add it to soups, serve over grilled chicken or shrimp, or use it as a topping for bruschetta.  My favorite way to use this pesto is on pizza.  Here is a photo of a pesto pizza I recently made, very simply with some Asiago cheese, a small amount of tomato sauce and fresh tomatoes.  We were in total pizza heaven – it was so good .  Pair it with a bold red and Bob’s your uncle.

Enjoy!

Pistachio-Herb Pesto

1 small clove of garlic, peeled

2 cups packed Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

1/2 cup fresh basil

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon-thyme leaves

1 Tablespoon fresh sage leaves

1 Tablespoon fresh oregano leaves

1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary – chopped

½ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

¾ cup roasted & lightly salted pistachios

zest of one lemon

salt & pepper to taste

2/3 cup olive oil

In a blender or food processor, pulse the garlic until finely chopped.  Add all herbs, cheese, pistachios, lemon zest, salt & pepper to the garlic and blend until finely chopped.  With the blender/processor running, add the olive oil in a steady stream until the mixture becomes creamy and emulsified.  You may need to add more salt or pepper at this point.  Use immediately or when cool, can be refrigerated for a couple of days or freeze for later use.

"The Greatest Wealth is Health" - Roman Poet Virgil

"Let Food be thy Medicine and Medicine be thy Food." - Hippocrates

For the Love of Pizza



New York Pizzeria - Trumansburg, NY

I love pizza.  And, while I'm pretty sure it will never happen in this lifetime, if I'm ever on death row, my last meal will be pizza.  I will admit that over the years I have become what some may call a pizza snob, or at least very particular about the pizza I will put in my mouth.  As I'm sure you're aware of, there is A LOT of pizza out there, so one can be choosy. 

Pizza is something that is very personal; we all have our opinions on what is the best kind of pizza.  And that's great.  Everyone is unique, so why not their taste in pizza?  The most popular arguments I've come across are "deep dish vs. thin crust" or "New York style vs. Chicago."  I grew up in the Midwest where it is common to have your pizza cut up in little squares - a thin, cracker crust with mounds of mozzarella cheese, instead of a large pizza slice.  As an adult, I lived in Chicago for many years and ate a lot of great thin-crust pizza.  After being introduced to New York style pizza though, I have to say, my pizza tastes changed thanks in part to what is called a high-gluten flour.  I definitely prefer a thin, crispy crust, but New York pizza is thin, crispy and chewy all at once.  Chewy is not something you get from a cracker thin crust - which is delicious in its own right - but if I can have it all in one slice, I'll take it.  I don't order take-out pizza very often, instead I make my own pizza at home.  I've found a local, Italian bakery that sells the high-gluten pizza dough and it's fantastic.  If I felt that making the dough myself from scratch would enhance my homemade pizza, I would do it...but it doesn't.

As far as being healthy, pizza really can be good for you...as long as it has tomato sauce and you go easy on the cheese.  Cooked tomatoes have the powerful antioxidant lycopene which helps prevent prostate cancer, may also prevent heart disease and can also protect your skin from sun damage.  Of course you can get these benefits from eating cooked tomatoes alone or tomato sauce, but according to the book 50 Secrets of the Longest Living People, author Sally Beare writes, "Pizza appeared to be the most protective; this is thought to be because lycopene is a fat-soluble antioxidant, and the oil and cheese in pizza help transport it to our cells." 

Works for me!

This is my first entry on pizza, but hardly the last...more posts on really great pizza to come. 

Please tell me about your favorite pizza!

"The Greatest Wealth is Health" - Roman Poet Virgil