Tomato Season!

recipes starring summer tomatoes

Some might tire of hearing all the excited chatter about tomatoes this time of year, but not me. I say, “bring it on!” In the Northeast, where I live, the window for perfectly ripe, maximally juicy, sweet tomatoes is so short, it’s a time I wait for with eager anticipation most of the year, and before I know it, it’s gone. So I am luxuriating in them now as much as possible, eating them simply sliced with olive oil and sea salt, as well as using them in all sorts of dishes that make them the star of the plate. Here are a few recipes that celebrate tomatoes big and small. I think they are worth getting excited about. Enjoy!

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Eggs Florentine in Tomato Cups

Photo by Goran Kosanovic for The Washington Post

This recipe makes the most of the big, beautiful tomatoes available in the summer. They are hollowed out to become beautiful, edible serving cups, partially filled with a healthful, yet rich-tasting creamed spinach. Then each is finished with an egg and cheese, and baked until set and melted. The result is stunning and satisfying, a perfect treat for a special breakfast or brunch.

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Snap Pea, Tomato & Watermelon Salad with Feta

Photo by Quentin Bacon, food styling by Suzanne Lenzer, and prop styling by Maeve Sheridan for Weeknight Wonders

This quenching salad is a refreshing expression of summer, with chunks of sweet watermelon, plump ripe tomatoes, crisp snap peas, and fresh mint tossed with a sprinkle of creamy salty feta cheese to make all the flavors dance. It is the ideal complement for BBQ sauce-slathered grilled proteins.

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Smoky Shrimp with Corn, Zucchini, and Tomatoes

Photo by Randi Baird, food styling by Suzanne Lenzer, and prop styling by Maeve Sheridan for Whole in One

This quick dinner is an oven version of a summer seafood bake, but one with an alluring Spanish flair, thanks to a dusting of aromatic smoked paprika. The meal is as brilliantly colorful as it is delicious and healthful, with rounds of golden corn on the cob, tomatoes that soften and intensify in flavor with cooking, and chunks of tender zucchini. The plump shrimp take on the brick hue of the paprika and the dish is seasoned further with fresh garlic and bites of smoky chorizo sausage. It’s a smile-inducing dinner that begs to be made right now, when corn, zucchini, and, of course, tomatoes, are at their peak.