Got Tomatoes?

What do you do when you return from a long midsummer in Colorado to find a lot of tomatoes from your CSA? Marinate them, and eat them as many times a day as possible!

Beyond tomatoes drizzled with oil and vinegar and spiked with salt and pepper, which is also delicious, marinating produces a dish with a little more complexity and possibilities, as well as something that will hold for a few days in the fridge. A search will provide several good jumping-off recipes; I prefer one that doesn't use olive oil or garlic and includes fresh basil, red wine vinegar, a bland oil, and parsley. 

A variety of cherry, heirloom, and red tomatoes with diced onions, basil, and parsley.

My dressing based on red zinfandel wine vinegar and canola oil.

• Have it as a salad with fresh bread on the first day, or as a topping on grilled slices of bread. 
• Spoon it on your baked tofu, or broiled chicken.
• Remove some of the liquid (there will be a lot of it by the next morning) and marinate cooked beans (white? fava?) in it. Top penne pasta with tomatoes and beans for dinner. 
• Sticking with the penne idea, top a healthy serving (which means not a lot of pasta!) with a saute of fresh green beans, garlic, and matchstick zucchini, adding tomatoes at the end just to heat through. Parmesan and olive oil required.
• Add a spoonful of tomatoes off to the side of the pan in which you are cooking breakfast eggs. Really.

I store mine in a glass container in the refrigerator, and they last two days. They might be able to store longer, but we'll never know.