That's what I said last night when I tried the tomatoes that our friend Jeff gave us from his garden. Honestly, I feel wrong even calling them "tomatoes." To call them tomatoes implies that they are somehow related to those mealy little salad fillers that are bruised and beaten from the hard life on the shelf. Oh, no. What Jeff gave us deserves to be in a category unto itself. But calling them "Proof that God Loves Us" is such a mouthful…
I couldn't decide what to do with them. These tomatoes deserved long candle lit dinners, moonlight walks on the beaches of San Tropez and late night chats cuddling by a fire. They deserved to be in a lush and indulgent meal. John suggested pasta.
"Are you sure you want to put them in pasta??? I don't want to mess them up. Maybe we should eat them straight from the bowl with spoons?!?"
"Just put them in pasta, Jen."
I tossed them with steamed broccoli, Trader Joe's gluten-free rice pasta, lemon, Trader Joe's Organic Garlic Olive Oil and lemon pepper. I topped the dish off with a dash of Parma Vegan Parmesan**. That's all it needed. No bells and whistles that would mask the tomatoes' natural beauty.
And the best part is...I have so much leftover!
I'll be in tomato heaven for days!!
Thanks, Jeff!!!
-♥ J :)
**While we were working out yesterday, Charli and I had a debate about vegan parmesan. She said that it is wrong to call it "parmesan" because it is made entirely of walnuts and doesn't taste like parmesan. I said it does taste like parmesan and you have to call it that so people know how to cook with it. If you called it "Walnuts in a Plastic Jug" no one would know how to use it. Charli said at least it would be honest and if people can't figure out what to do with it then that is their problem. (These are the things Charli and I ponder to distract ourselves from the fact that we're working out to Tracy Anderson videos after only 5 hours sleep...) What do you think?? Would you rather food substitutes stop pretending to be something they are not or do you think that it makes the foods more familiar?? Just curious...
