Tomato Sandwich!

After two or three years of encouragement from a friend, I ate my first tomato sandwich recently. I have now eaten three tomato sandwiches. I don't know why, but the thought of eating a sandwich without even a hint of meat on it never seemed legitimate somehow.

When you have bacon, salami, tuna, and various other forms of animal protein in the refrigerator, why would you possibly consider eating a sandwich with nothing but tomato, onion, and mayo on sourdough toast? The most accurate answer is because it may be the most decadently delicious sandwich I've ever eaten.

Yesterday evening, I spotted a very large, bright red, Dester tomato peeking out at me from the thick foliage of a tall plant. It was almost screaming "eat me, eat me". I wanted to give it one more night of security comfortably nestled into the branches of the tomato plant, so I left it where it was while anticipating the sandwich it would provide the following day. While I was sleeping last night, we got some much needed rain. When I woke this morning with water running off the roof, my first thought was for the Dester tomato which probably had split wide open from the excess water. I was pleasantly surprised to find the tomato in good condition as I gently placed it in a bag with some other large tomatoes.

As I was walking back too the house from the garden, I noticed the pest control guy leaving in his pickup. We contract the service to spray our house foundation every couple of months to deter our resident scorpions from deciding they would prefer to live in air conditioned comfort. I asked the guy if his wife would like some home grown tomatoes. He seemed to be having some kind of fit as he tried to answer in the affirmative. To stop his sputtering and spitting, I handed him the bag with all my very large tomatoes in it. I kept the bag of smaller tomatoes and a couple of bags of fresh carrots I was carrying. Only as he was driving out the gate did I realize I had just given my prized Dester away.

Oh well! There are a lot of good things that can be said about a tomato sandwich made with a Marizol Purple tomato and I still have plenty of Desters ripening on the vine.

Ted

[KarenO]

Pest control guy's lucky day !

Hot buttered toast, sliced tomato, fresh ground pepper and sea salt. simple and divine.
I am hoping to have my first one in a couple of weeks here
K

Originally Posted by KarenO

Pest control guy's lucky day !

Hot buttered toast, sliced tomato, fresh ground pepper and sea salt. simple and divine.
I am hoping to have my first one in a couple of weeks here
K

Yep! I slice part of a loaf of French bread and prepare it as you said. I think, but I'm not sure it is called Bruschetta in Italy. Olive oil and fresh basil tops it off well before it is placed under the broiler.

Ted

[Irv Wiseguy]

Tomato and mayo together is a taste made in Heaven.

Irv

[Uncle Dunkel]

Tomato and sausage gravy aint to bad either. Homemade of course.

[greentiger87]

Open sandwiches are pretty darn good too. When I really want to enjoy the taste of a tomato, I just slice it and put it on good bread, top it with fresh mozzarella, salt/pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Do the same thing with homegrown peaches.

Or coarsely diced with some avocado and onion in a tortilla.

[Dewayne mater]

I make mine with thick tomato slices salted/peppered, avocado slices, basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil on the best bread we happen to have, toasted. Incredible flavors, more staying power because of the avocado.

Dewayne Mater

[NarnianGarden]

I cannot understand why someone would want to spoil a delicious fresh tomato with mayo
Butter, olive oil or goat cheese, yes please!

[Anthony_Toronto]

I prefer toasted bread, strong flavoured extra virgin olive oil, some fresh basil, some slices of 2-year-old cheddar or maybe some buffalo mozzarella if I'm lucky enough to have any around (cheese right on top of the olive oiled toast so the heat gives a little melting tot eh cheese), then enough thick slabs of juicy tomato to cover the toast surface, with another drizzle of evoo and lots of sea salt and pepper, all open faced of course...not much better than that! From the look of the garden I probably won't have my first one for at least another month...production seems to get slower every year (or at least it does when I'm setting out 18-inch seedlings instead of 3-foot ones).

Originally Posted by NarnianGarden

I cannot understand why someone would want to spoil a delicious fresh tomato with mayo
Butter, olive oil or goat cheese, yes please!

I'm not really a fan of mayonnaise, but in some instances; it just hits the spot. Tomato sandwiches are an example of the right spot.

We once had a lady friend who was in the later stages of terminal cancer. She liked how I prepared fresh asparagus and once commented that it would be perfect covered in Mayonnaise like her mamma prepared when she was a child. I was determined she could have anything she wanted, any way she wanted it. The next time she ate at our house, she got fresh asparagus slathered in Mayonnaise. It was horrible, but she loved it. The fact that she loved it and it brought back good memories was the only thing that mattered.

Ted

[b54red]

On tomato, tuna, chicken, or cheese sandwiches I prefer Miracle Whip to mayo.

Bought some fresh white peas already shelled and then had my first fresh tomato sandwich with homemade sourdough bread. Okay so I had more than one.

Bill

[salix]

Toasted homemade sourdough whole grain bread, rubbed with a fresh garlic clove, 'tiny' bit of homemade mayo (mostly olive oil), big slices of the perfect tomato and a bit of freshly ground pepper. Occasionally a bit of sea salt.

My wife made one this evening that I like, but I can certainly understand objections. Tomato lightly salted, lettuce, aaaaaaannnnnnnddddd peanut butter. Pretty darned good.

If peanut butter was the only food left on earth, I would be a happy camper.

Ted

[AlittleSalt]

This post made me hungry. Our first Cherokee tomato started turning red a few days ago, and then I saw this thread, so I asked my wife to bring home a package of jumbo hamburger buns. We ate LARGE hamburgers with 4-1/2" slices of Cherokee tomato on them... Unbelievably good!

31 years ago, I dated this girl whose mother was a strict vegetarian. I don't remember the girl's name, but on my only visit to her home, her mother made lunch for everyone. What I do remember was the vegetarian sandwiches she made:

Bread, tomato, sliced avocado, lettuce, and mayo.

I'll never forget that sandwich. It really changed how I felt about eating vegetables. Funny thinking about it now. My adult children eat Cherry and Porter tomatoes like others eat popcorn. That's why I grow them.

[Ed of Somis]

Ted, your descriptive writing skills are being somewhat wasted on us gardeners here on this site. With your 2,600+ posts...I know you have lots of practice. But, really! Are you a retired English Composition teacher? If not...you should have been! haha