It’s official – we are totally obsessed with tomatoes. The summertime treat evokes a lot of local pride, and we consider ourselves lucky to have access to fresh, delicious Jersey Tomatoes throughout the summer. We feel even luckier to have tomatoes this year in particular, what with the well-documented late blight outbreak that has taken hold across the east coast. It feels like a privilege to dig in to a juicy, ripe tomato, halved and sprinkled with salt – a snack that manages to contain the perfect combination of tastiness, summery-ness and laziness that we relish at this time of year. We’re also extremely glad that the heirloom tomato trend is kind of over, and that the classic Ramapo tomatoes are being grown across the Garden State again, because let’s get real – they just feel right to us.

The other thing we love about the tomato is that, in our opinion, it’s best prepared at home. Don’t get us wrong – we believe that our favorite tomato beverage is best left to the professionals, especially trailblazers like the makers of the Green Tomato Bloody Mary at The Swift Half we reviewed earlier in the summer. Seriously though, when it comes to the individual tomato, achieving perfection is nothing short of an art form. Finding a shiny, blemish-free tomato, waiting for optimal ripeness … these are the joys of tomato season and require a trained eye and a pure heart (or at least produce-purchasing-skills).

Once you have found the tomato, crafting the perfect dish is something that is a rather political issue, but we feel that the main rule of thumb is simplicity. Our personal favorite – chunks of Jersey tomato tossed with feta cheese, chopped fresh basil and a light vinaigrette, is about as much as we would dress up any tomato we truly loved. We found a spectacular recipe for tomato, basil and ricotta gelati that we will be dreaming of all afternoon, but that’s a bit more labor-intensive than we are ready for (and who actually owns an ice cream maker?  lucky …). The point is that we are in love with tomatoes, in all shapes and sizes, forever and ever till death do us part.

Our question for you is – what is your most beloved tomato dish? Where have you had some scrumptious seasonal delights involving everyone’s favorite fruit?