Today's simple-simple tomato recipe: Yeah, see that bowl? It's as simple as that. Just whisk together a few pantry ingredients, stir in wonderful summer tomatoes and some basil. That.Is.It. But it's so good! ~recipe & photo updated 2007 & 2014~ ~ more recently updated recipes ~ 2005: When tomatoes are at their summer peak, there's simply no going wrong! Tonight's vegetable is a gimme, just chopped tomato stirred with basil from the garden and leftover dressing from Day 126 plus a splash of rice vinegar. Would I make it again? You bet. It was delicious. 2007 & 2014: And so I do, again and again. Turns out, this is a favorite way to enjoy fresh summer tomatoes from the garden or the farmers market.

Today's recipe for a vegetarian supper for Meatless Monday: So what if you just cooked up a few vegetables, whatever you've got on hand, made sure to use lots of warm spices, rolled it all up in soft, warm tortillas and then draped them with a gorgeous green sauce? Heaven on a plate, truly. Very adaptable, a "concept" recipe. WAY BACK IN 2005 Carnivores should eat so well! This delicious dish reminded me of the cooking I did during several meatless years. I didn't call myself a vegetarian – that suggested a lifestyle versus a food choice – but I didn't eat meat. There are still lots of meatless meals around here but this veggie-lentil combination somehow hearkened back to those years. It's a delicious dish but it's also extremely adaptable. Feeding a few more? Add more vegetables or some cooked chickpeas. Want to serve as a side to grilled meat? Perfect. How about as a main dish? Or wrapped in half a soft thin pita or a whole wheat tortilla? Want to

The sandwich was good enough but the tomatillo sauce -- ah the sauce! the sauce was delicious! It's a keeper for meat and vegetable fillings, whatever they might be sandwiched between, pita, good country bread, a fresh sour dough or baguette. Another time, however, I'd make open-face sandwiches so those are the directions I'm including here. TURKEY ON PITA with TOMATILLO SAUCE Hands-on time: 15 minutes Time to table: 30 minutes Serves: 4 SAUCE 1/2 pound (with husks) tomatillos (see ALANNA's TIPS) 1 garlic clove, chopped 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped (I didn't use and didn't miss the heat but including it may make an entirely different sauce) Salt & pepper to taste PITAS 1 large pita or 2 smaller ones (see TIPS) 8 ounces sliced cooked turkey breast 2 roasted red peppers from a jar, patted dry and slit open into single layer 4 ounces sliced cheese (I used a smoked gouda) Fresh cilantro Preheat the oven to 350F. SAUCE: Remove the husks from the tomatillos, wa

Veggie Posts of the Week: A delicious-sounding broccoli and tomato dish at Poco-Cocoa A primer on greens at Tomatillo Plus, ta da, the new Kitchen of the Week at Seriously Good . Enjoy!

Tried my first tomatillos a couple of days ago -- boy, I've been missing out! And so I had high hopes for this soup that combines poblano peppers, tomatillos and cucumber. But who knew that something with heat (from the jalapeno, not the poblanos, I think) could be bland, too? If it made up in 10 minutes, I might be inclined to adjust the flavors until they worked. But no, it took nearly an hour of active, hands-on cooking PLUS the chilling time. Still I'm anxious to keep going with tomatillos - they taste so fresh and bright. And if you're looking for a cold vegetable soup that IS good, try this carrot soup . [8/26 Update: No lookers, no takers for several days so this one's moved to the freezer for reincarnation inside Saturday Soup some time soon, well, some time anyway.] CHILLED TOMATILLO & CUCUMBER SOUP Hands-on time: 50 minutes Time to table: 4 hours Makes 7 1/2 cups (and a half-cup serving was plenty) 3 poblano chilies (about 1/2 pound) 1

Do you find limp celery at the bottom of your vegetable drawer too often? Me too -- what a waste! This tip from a Cook's Illustrated reader really works: Leave the celery in the plastic bag but then wrap in aluminum foil. My last stalk lasted a month and was nearly as good at the end as the beginning.

I inherited this chinois (sheen-WAH) from my mother but didn't know what it was called or even, truly, what to do with it. And I'm so glad I did! It makes the smoothest of sauces and soups with very little effort. I wouldn't give up the food processor. But I'm happy this came home with me. I see that they're still for sale, as here on Amazon though I suspect they'd be available less expensively at yard sales and even on E-Bay. For the record, as you'll see from the comments below, whether this is a chinois or a China cap is up for debate. As of July 2006, there's a Wikpedia definition , which says that the two are often confused but that: While both are conical sieves The China cap is made of perforated metal (like mine) where the chinois is made of fine wire mesh The chinois often has a dowel (as mine does) to push foods through the holes, like the blade of a food mill Since mine has characteristics of each, I'm not sure what to call