Western Garden Centers

for what grows here

Tomatoes

Bruschetta

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One of our favorite ways to use tomatoes is in this simple, fresh & delicious bruschetta recipe.  It goes together fast and is beautiful enough to serve to guests.  This is a great way to use tomatoes when you have more than you can share with your neighbors (one of the best problems to have!).

Bruschetta mainToasting the bread in a hot griddle with butter adds even more flavor, and makes them brown beautifully.  This can be done with baguette (used here) for an appetizer size, or french bread for a main dish.

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DIY Solar Lantern

DIY Solar Lantern

Ingredients

  • empty small-mouth mason jar or other small decorative jar
  • inexpensive solar yard light
  • canning jar ring (optional)
  • hot glue

Instructions

  1. Remove the lid/ring from your small jar.
  2. Remove the solar light unit from the inexpensive solar light. Recycle the rest of the solar light or reserve for another project.
  3. Place the solar light unit (with solar cells facing up) on/into the top of the jar opening. Secure with hot glue.
  4. If desired, place a canning ring on top of the jar (around the solar light) and secure with hot glue.
  5. Place solar lights in your yard, they look great sitting on the porch or hanging from a shepherd's hook!
https://westerngardens.com/bruschetta/

One of the best parts about this bruschetta is its versatility.  If you like more salt, add more salt.  If you want more basil, add more!  You can adapt it to whatever your taste may be, and the wonderful flavors of the tomatoes and basil will always shine through.

Avocado & Slow-Roasted Tomato Toast

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Roasting is one of my favorite ways to cook veggies, as I mentioned in my post about roasted asparagus.  Tomatoes are another reason why.  Slow roasting concentrates their flavors, making even so-so tomatoes wonderfully delicious and tender…similar to how a slow-cooker can turn a tough cut of meat into a tender and juicy dish. If garden-fresh tomatoes aren’t in season but you need a fix, this is a perfect way to prepare them to get maximum flavor from a less-than-flavorful store bought tomato!

slow roasted tomato toast 3 pin

The flavors of roasted vegetables are deep and rich.  The tomatoes come out juicy and soft and the garlic will spread right into the toast.  slow roasted tomato avocado toast collage

Slow-Roasted Tomato & Avocado Toast

Ingredients:

  • 4 medium tomatoes, halved
  • 8 cloves garlic, unpeeled
  • 2-3 Tbsp olive or avocado oil
  • dried Italian seasoning (or 2 sprigs fresh herbs)
  • freshly ground sea salt & black pepper
  • 2 avocados
  • 1-2 tsp lime juice
  • 8 toasted french bread slices
  • balsamic reduction*

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Place the garlic cloves and tomatoes, cut-side up, in a baking dish.  Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with Italian seasoning, salt & pepper.
  2. Roast for about 1 hour & 45 minutes (up to two hours). Tomatoes should be slightly reduced in size and skins should be puckered.
  3. Check the garlic after about 1 hour 15 minutes.  They might be done before the tomatoes.  Remove if done, continue roasting if not.
  4. Tomatoes can be served right away, or refrigerated for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
  5. To assemble the toast, begin by toasting 8 slices of french bread.
  6. Peel and pit the avocado and mash with lime juice.
  7. Remove the peel from a clove of roasted garlic and spread it over a slice of toast.  Spread avocado mixture over the garlic.  Top the avocado with a roasted tomato, and drizzle with balsamic reduction.

slow roasted tomato toast 6 square*To reduce balsamic vinegar, add 1 cup to a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir frequently for about 10 minutes, or until balsamic is reduced to desired consistency.  It will thicken as it cools, so remove it from the heat before it looks completely done.

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Cowboy Caviar

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If you are looking for something a little different, really simple, and super quick, look no further!  It’s a fabulous appetizer served with chips, or as part of a main meal…like a taco bar topping.  Whether your ingredients are straight from the garden, or came from the produce section, you will impress your guests with this flavorful treat!

Cowboy Caviar

Cowboy Caviar

Ingredients:

  • 1 can (15.25 oz) supersweet yellow corn
  • 1 can (15.25 oz) white corn, drained
  • 2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, rinsed & drained
  • 1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • 1 packet Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix (dry)
  • 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

  1. Add all ingredients to a large bowl and gently combine.  Delicious right away, but even better once the flavors have had a chance to mingle.  Serve with chips, or in a taco bar.

Cowboy Caviar square

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Becky

  

~Becky

Grilled Caprese Sandwich (aka the best thing you’ve ever tasted!)

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Our oldest had a birthday, and for his birthday dinner he wanted grilled cheese.  We eat far too much grilled cheese anyway (because the kids will actually eat it without crying about how gross dinner is), but you can’t say no to a birthday dinner request.  I wanted something slightly more exotic, so I ran out to the garden to grab a tomato.  Then I saw the basil, which reminded me that I had mozzarella in my fridge and balsamic vinegar in my cupboard.  Rejoice!  As I was making my beautiful sandwich, my darling husband looked on.  Very skeptically.  He watched me take the first bite, and when I liked it, he took my sandwich to taste it.  (That’s how it works at our house.)  After one bite, he wanted his own.  And I’ve been making them almost nonstop since.  This is so simple, but the flavor will just about knock your socks off!  Everyone that has tried this sandwich has asked for seconds.  Every. Single. One.  It’s that good!!

Grilled Caprese Sandwich

makes 2 sandwiches

4 slices bread (I made bread because, hey, this was for a birthday dinner!) Otherwise use italian, french, or sourdough bread.
4 slices mozzarella cheese
1-2 tomatoes, sliced
10 basil leaves
garlic salt to taste
fresh ground pepper to taste
balsamic vinegar to taste
melted butter

Using half of the ingredients for each sandwich, lay out the 4 slices of bread. Place the mozzarella and tomatoes on two of the slices of bread. Sprinkle garlic salt and pepper over the tomatoes, and top with basil leaves. Lightly drizzle balsamic vinegar on the other two slices of bread, and place vinegar-side down over the basil. Brush melted butter on top of each sandwich, and place butter-side down on a hot griddle. Brush remaining unbuttered side with butter. Cook each side 2-3 minutes, or until golden and gooey.

Serve your unbelievably delicious sandwich with this incredible roasted red pepper and tomato basil soup.  Everyone who eats it will have undying admiration and love for you.

Tomato and Basil. Such a perfect combination of colors and flavors!

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Basil Soup

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Grilled cheese is serious business at our house. It’s one of the few meals that every member of our family will eat (without crying and complaining about how gross dinner is and asking what the kids get to eat and then crying harder when I tell them they don’t get a different dinner). Anyway. The adults in our house also love tomato soup.  We’re dippers and sippers.  We usually have our soup in a mug.  We dip our sandwiches, and when they’re gone we finish off the soup like a drink.  It’s total comfort food…I grew up on it.  Well, with the wagon full of tomatoes we picked the other day, I’ve been trying to get creative to use them.  I plan on freezing as many as I can, but I also want to eat as many I can while I can.  Because there isn’t much that compares to a fresh tomato, ripe off the vine.  Now that some of the days are getting a little chilly, it’s officially soup season at our house!  (I love soup season.  A lot.)  Enter: Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Basil Soup!

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Basil Soup

3 roasted red peppers, rough chopped (click HERE to see how to roast your own.  don’t be scared, it’s easy.)

5 large tomatoes, skins removed, rough chopped

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

1/2 tsp thyme

2 tsp paprika

garlic salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

generous pinch cayenne pepper

generous dash of your favorite hot sauce

10 leaves of fresh basil, torn into thirds

6 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1 1/2 Tbsp butter

1 1/2 Tbsp flour

Saute onion and garlic over medium heat in a stock pot until fragrant.  Add the tomatoes and peppers.  Cook until the juices are slightly reduced.  Add the thyme, paprika, garlic salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, hot sauce and basil.  Using an immersion blender, or blending in batches (mine actually fit in one batch), process until smooth (or leave it a little chunky if you like.  I don’t.  Not for tomato soup.)  Add back to the stock pot if necessary and add the veg or chicken broth.  Melt the butter in a small bowl and stir in the flour.  Add to the soup and thoroughly combine.  Let simmer for about 25 minutes.  Makes about 8 servings.

Serve with a grilled caprese sandwich (aka the best grilled sandwich known to man).

*To remove tomato skins, lightly score an X into the bottom of the tomato.  Gently drop into boiling water, remove after 30-60 seconds.  Place directly into an ice bath until tomato is cool.  The skins will slide right off.

*I have to say it.  This is the best tomato soup I’ve ever had, including canned, boxed, restaurant, semi-homemade, etc.  This is also the best caprese sandwich I’ve ever had, including the one I had at a restaurant that’s been highlighted on at least one food show I like to watch.  Waaaaay better.  So much better.  I wish I could make this for everyone I meet.  It’s so fabulous.  I’ve made it for a number of family members and friends, and the look on their faces after that first bite…it says, “I knew you said this was going to be a good sandwich, but it’s way better than I thought it would be.  It’s probably the best thing I’ve ever tasted.  Start making another one now.  Right now.  MOVE!”

Enjoy!

Garden Salsa

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10-14 roma tomatoes, diced
2 anaheim peppers
1 jalapeno pepper
1 garden salsa pepper
1/2-1 onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro
1/4 c lemon or lime juice
2 Tbsp brown sugar
salt to taste
1/4 t cumin

Dice tomatoes to preferred size.  Put peppers, onion, garlic, and cilantro in food processor and pulse until all ingredients are desired size.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, let flavors mingle for a few hours before serving.  Keep refrigerated.

Tomato Diseases and Insect Problems

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Everyone loves tomatoes.  I think homegrown tomatoes are so popular because they taste so much better than anything  you can buy in the grocery store.  However there are some things you need to watch out for to make sure you have a bumper crop.  Here are just a few:

  1. Aphids are small, soft-bodied insects that suck the liquid sap from the leaves.  They may be clear, white, green, red, or brown.  Use permethrin, neem oil, or malathion as needed.
  2. Fusarium Wilt turns the lower leaves yellow as they wilt and die.  IT spreads to the upper shoots and will eventually kill the whole plant.  If you slice the stem near the soil line lenghtwise and the internal tissue is dark brown/grey, there is nothing you can do but destroy the plant and fumigate the soil for next year.  There isn’t any chemical treatment you can apply.
  3. Tomato Leaf Roll affects older, lower leaves that roll upward until the margins touch or overlap.  The leaves feel leathery but remain green.  You won’t notice any other symptoms.  This is a temporary condition resulting from excessively wet soil.  Once the soil dries, the symptoms will gradually disappear.

Stop by Western Gardens and learn more about growing healthy and delicious tomatoes.  Also, visit us on Facebook for daily updates and specials.

Everybody Loves Tomatoes

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This time of year a lot of folks come into the nursery with questions about which type of tomatoes would be the best to plant in their gardens.  Believe it or not, there are a lot of great tomato varieties that do very well in Utah—sometimes the choice is just a matter of personal preference.

The other day, someone asked about the best heirloom tomatoes for Utah.  We suggested that either Moonglow or Brandywine would be great.  Over the years I’ve experimenting with and found a couple that I really like.

One year I planted Early Girls and was eating tomatoes weeks before my neighbors.  There’s nothing as good as a sliced tomato alongside your favorite BBQ steak (especially when everyone else is still going to the grocery store for them).

Stop by Western Gardens and we’d be happy to share with you our personal favorites and help you decide.  When you stop by, mention the blog and take $5 off of any $20 purchase.

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