Meatless Monday: The Last Tomatoes of Summer

Fall has arrived in the Northeast, with shorter, cooler (for the most part) days, and decidedly chilly nights. The tomato season is about over in my area, but here are a pair of recipes for those of you who have tomatoes waiting to be used or who live where tomatoes are still being harvested.  

A couple of weeks ago I turned to some favorite cookbooks for inspiration on what to do with a second basket of plum tomatoes I had purchased. [Click here and here for what I did with the first one.] Both recipes were a great success. I meant to share them earlier, but life got in the way… Apologies to those of you who will have to wait until next year to try them.

The first recipe came from Mary Ann Esposito’s classic cookbook Ciao Italia: Bringing Italy Home.

Salsa di Pomodoro (Tomato Sauce) 

That's a lotta sauce!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup best quality extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 cups (about 8 medium) plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1-1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano or 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Method

• In a saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat.
• Sauté the garlic until soft.
• Add the tomatoes, oregano, and salt.
• Simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes, until slightly thickened. 

For a smoother sauce, puree the tomatoes in a food processor or with an immersion blender before adding to the saucepan.

This recipe is easily doubled, tripled, quadrupled. I did the latter and put four quarts in the freezer, ready to pull out when the days are short and gray.

The second recipe came from a not so obvious source: Cape Cod Table, by Lora Brody.

Oven-Roasted Tomatoes 

Ingredients

• 5 pounds of plum tomatoes, rinsed and cut in half lengthwise
• 4 large springs fresh thyme, or 2 teaspoons dry thyme leaves
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinegar [I used balsamic with a delicious result.]
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 400°F, with the rack in the upper third of the oven, but not the highest position.
• Place the thyme in the bottom of the roasting pan.
• Spread the tomatoes over the thyme, in one layer if possible.
• Drizzle with the olive oil, and sprinkle with the vinegar and salt.
• Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the tomatoes have browned (unevenly) and given up their juices and the juices have reduced and become slightly thickened and syrupy.
• Allow the tomatoes to cool in the pan.
• Remove the thyme sprigs if used.

Use the tomatoes immediately or store them in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.

This recipe can easily be doubled, as long as you have a roasting pan large enough.

At Susie’s suggestion, I froze most of mine in heavy ziplock bags for winter use. 

Before I close, here is a special Meatless Monday bonus. 

Earthbound Farms and Meatless Monday have released an e-cookbook featuring meatless breakfast recipes that can be eaten for any meal. Click here for the link 

Happy Meatless Monday. Good health to you. Have a great week.

On Mondays I often blog on food, food issues, or gardening in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Happy Kale Day!

Today is the second annual National Kale Day, a day set aside on the first Wednesday of October to “celebrate kale’s incredible health benefits, highlight kale’s culinary versatility, and promote eating, growing and sharing kale throughout America.” 

Whether you are a vegan, a vegetarian, or an omnivore, this versatile vegetable is for you.

Here are just a few reasons why kale is so great:

• One cup of raw kale has just 33 calories, yet is packed with all these nutrients.

CAUTION: Consult a doctor before adding kale to your diet if you taking a blood thinner; Vitamin K, present in kale in large quantities, causes blood to clot.

• It is a cool weather vegetable with a long growing season.
• If you have space for a garden, kale is easy to grow.
• It can be locally sourced when warm weather crops have disappeared from the market.
• It actually tastes best after there has been a frost.
• It is relatively inexpensive.
• It is “hearty.” When stored in a loose bag in the refrigerator crisper, it can last up to a week. 
• It comes in dozens of colorful varieties.
• It can be prepared in many ways.

To learn more, go to the Kale Day website and download the Kale Hero Toolkit. The kit includes a number of simple, delicious recipes for kale, as well as all you ever wanted to know about this leafy green vegetable.

Last year I tried this recipe from the toolkit. 

It has become a regular around my house — delicious, quick, and with ingredients that are easy to have on hand.

  

I discovered this remarkable food about four years ago. I had a few failures as I learned to “deal with kale,” but I have been a big fan ever since. 

In honor of this year’s Kale Day, we are having Kale Soup. I happened to have a quart in the freezer! Here is my original recipe.

SAUSAGE KALE SOUP

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• One medium yellow onion, peeled and diced
• Three cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• One quart broth (vegetable or chicken)
• Three sweet chicken sausages (optional)
• Two medium russet potatoes
• One medium sweet potato
• Three carrots
• One teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• One large head curly kale
• One 15 oz. can fire-roasted tomatoes
• One 15 oz. can white beans

Method

• Heat the olive oil in a heavy kettle.
• Sauté the onion and garlic until soft, being careful not to burn. 
• Add the stock.
• Cut the sausages into bite-size pieces and add to the broth.
• Peel and dice the potatoes, sweet potato, and carrots.
• Add to the broth with the thyme.
• Bring to a boil, and then simmer until the vegetables are fork tender.
• Add the tomatoes with the cayenne pepper.
• Wash well and roughly chop the kale.
• Add to the soup when the stock is once again hot.
• When the kale is tender, add the beans with their liquid.
• Salt to taste.
• Serve with a hearty, whole grain bread.

This soup freezes well should you happen to have leftovers.

Happy Kale Day! Eat well. 

Why Meatless Monday Matters

Hundreds of thousands of people marched through the streets of Manhattan yesterday demanding immediate action on global warming by the UN delegates gathered in New York this week. The Climate March, the largest climate protest in history, attracted people of all ages and demographic groups — from grandparents to children, from NJ residents devastated by Hurricane Sandy to the rich and famous.

I have to confess that I did not make the journey. And I had a bit of writer’s block [and a bit of guilt] when it came to blogging for Meatless Monday today and sharing the tomato recipe I promised last week. I asked myself, “Does Meatless Monday matter?” 

It is easy to become discouraged when thinking about what actually makes a difference. Does it matter that you recycle your paint and batteries when you know others throw them in the trash? Does it matter that you try to use all your leftovers when you see how much trash can be left for pick-up on your block in a week? But, as my husband says, “How much worse would it be if no one cared, if no one did anything at all?”

Then, today’s weekly message/pep talk from the Meatless Monday Movement arrived in my inbox. 

It reminded me that the Meatless Monday Movement is playing a major role in the Climate Action events in New York City over the next few days and also reminded me why Meatless Mondays are important. You can read more here. 

So, before I tell you about Tomato Pesto, let me share some of the reasons why Meatless Monday (and thus, this blog) matters. 

Most of you know that Meatless Monday was started as an initiative to make people healthier. You can read about the many health benefits of cutting out meat one day a week here. Meatless Monday is also kind to your budget.

But, for today, the eve of the Climate Summit, let’s focus on the reasons why the Meatless Monday Movement is good for the planet. 

• When you reduce your meat intake, you minimize water usage because the production of beef requires 1,850 gallons of water, while the production of vegetables requires 39 gallons of water. 
• When you reduce your meat consumption, you reduce your carbon footprint because beef production creates 30kg of greenhouse gas per kg of food, while carrots, potatoes, and rice require .42, .45, and 1.3kg respectively.
• You also reduce fuel dependence. About 25 kilocalories of fossil fuel energy is used to produce 1 kilocalorie of all meat based protein, as compared with 2.2 kilocalories of fossil fuel input per 1 kilocalorie of grain based protein produced.

And now, back to my originally scheduled post…Here is the Tomato Pesto recipe — easy to prepare, but requiring several hours of slow roasting. The aromas will have your tummy grumbling as it bakes.

Slow-Roasted Tomato Pesto 

from Edible San Francisco, August/September 2008

Ingredients

• 4 pounds plum tomatoes
• 1/3 cup best quality extra virgin olive oil
• 1 head of garlic (about 12 whole cloves), peeled
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 6 large cloves of garlic (from California if you can find it)
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, slightly toasted
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Method

• Position oven racks on the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
• Preheat the oven to 225° F.
• Line two large rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper rubbed with olive oil.
• Slice tomatoes lengthwise and cut a V around each stem to remove.
• In a large mixing bowl combine tomatoes, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and three of the garlic cloves.
• Toss gently to coat.
• Arrange tomatoes, cut side up. 
• Place sheet pans in oven and roast for one hour. Then reverse the pans and rotate 180°.
• Repeat every hour for 4-6 hours total.
• Tomatoes are ready when they have reduced in size by at least half and have begun to caramelize.
• Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
• In food processor combine everything except Parmesan and pulse until combined but still chunky.
• If freezing, omit raw garlic and Parmesan. [Add them after thawing.]

Serve the pesto slightly warm with thin rounds of bread or pita chips.

[Note: It has been such a wonderful year for tomatoes in my state that I couldn’t resist picking up another basket. There will be one more issue on the wonders of the tomato if you can find your way back here next week.]

One more thing: If you want to make your voice heard about the need to take action for our planet, you can add your voice here.

Happy Meatless Monday. Good health to you, and to the planet.

On Mondays I often blog on food, food issues, or gardening in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”