Move over BLTs

It won’t be long before I’ll have the first ripe tomatoes of the season from my garden. And I can’t wait, although I’m kind of envious of a couple of my friends who bought some patio tomatoes and have been eating fresh fruit for about two weeks or so.

Most summers, my first tomatoes to ripen are of the cherry variety, and it won’t be any different this summer. But I got smarter in 2009, putting in only one plant. In the past, I’ve planted two or three, and by the time August arrives, we can hardly keep up, despite being tomato lovers. Plus, my other tomatoes usually have started to produce in full force by then, which makes it twice as hard to stay ahead of those tasty red orbs.

I’ve never thought about making salsa with the first tomatoes of the season. That task usually is reserved for late August.

Most years, the first ripe tomatoes go on toasted BLTs, along with some bacon, lettuce and a little Miracle Whip Lite. And a few of them are eaten right in the garden, without any fanfare.

But this summer, I probably will be making some fresh salsa with some of the first tomatoes and peppers to ripen. A recipe that I came across recently, from “Tomato: A Fresh-from-the Vine Cookbook,” has made me change my mind. Fresh Rainbow Salsa not only contains fresh tomatoes but also tomatillos, hot peppers and red onion, among other things.

And it’s delicious, a virtual treasure at the end of a rainbow.

How do I know? I’ve already made some. I couldn’t wait for the tomatoes from my garden to ripen and had to run to the store and pick up some up vine-ripened ones that were on sale along with a half-dozen tomatillos, a veggie that might find a spot in next year’s garden.

While I used only red tomatoes in the salsa recipe, a number of colorful varieties could be used as the name suggests. (The cookbook author, Lawrence Davis-Hollander, likes to use a combination of Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Indian Moon, Limmony, Black Aisberg and red tomatoes, such as the Ponderosa and Livingston varieties. He prefers the salsa as a dip or as a topping for tortillas or omelets. (Other produce also can be added, such as cooked sweet corn or scallions.)

The Fresh Rainbow Salsa recipe in a way reminds me of chow chow, a tomato and pepper relish. The biggest difference is that the tomatoes in the salsa recipe are red and not green.

While I’ve never made chow chow, it’s not unfamiliar to me. An old friend, Kevin Shanahan, has supplied me with a couple of pints of it over the years, which I like to pair with venison or elk sausage.

And recently, Marion Moen of Grand Forks and formerly of Gilby, N.D., shared some homemade chow chow with me. (See recipe at www.grandforksherald.com/event/tag/group/ Features/tag/food/.) Marion also gave me some apple ring pickles made from cucumbers. Both the chow chow and the apple ring pickles were made by Marion’s daughter, Mary Finseth.

Marion said she likes the chow chow on things like brats and hot dogs, but Mary’s version could be a little hotter. Marion said her daughter doesn’t share her taste for real hot food, so she cuts back on the jalapenos in the recipe. (Marion and I would get along just fine. I love hot stuff.) I used the chow chow as a dip for some tortilla chips, and it was great, as was the Rainbow Salsa that I made.

With food like that, who needs a pot of gold?

Tiedeman is food editor at the Herald. Reach him at 780-1136 or toll-free at (800) 477-6572, or e-mail at jtiedeman@gfherald.com.

Tags: jeff tiedeman, fresh salsa, features, food, recipes, salsa, columns, tomatillos