Of course, in California they never really left. You could amble through the farmer’s market on any random Saturday in February and find at least one table with them. But you know out of season really isn’t quite as good as in season. I turned the corner last Saturday and came face to face with literally booths and booths of them.
Oh wait, I should probably tell you what I’m talking about.
Heirloom Tomatoes!
I’m my wild excitement I bought one without thinking about how I would use it. Heirlooms are so special it feels weird to just roast it up for pasta or dice it up for a salad.
And then I had a stroke of genius…
Grilled Heirloom Tomatoes
Ingredients:
1 heirloom tomato
2 cloves of garlic
Salt
Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Chopped Basil
This recipe is ridiculously simple and tastes like summer. Am I the only one who associates sliced tomatoes with summer? I hope not. I started by slicing the heirloom into thick slices.
Chop the garlic. Dollop each of the tomatoes on both sides with EVO, salt, pepper, and chopped basil. Take out your grill pan and crank up the heat to medium high. Place the tomatoes on the pan with the garlic like so…
Heat the tomatoes until there are grill marks on one side and then flip it over. Cook until grill marks on the other side, probably less than 5 mins on each side. And then it should look like this…
I elected to eat my tomatoes with roasted pepper and quinoa so my plate ended up looking delicious and colorful!
I love love love a bright, colorful plate like this! Grilled tomatoes are by far my favorite way to consume tomatoes. You know, outside of roasted and in sauce. I think the grilling brings out the flavor in the heirlooms. Heirlooms are already special so you really don’t want to do too much to them except bring out their flavor a little bit more. Bright red grilled tomatoes would be a great 4th of July dish!
What are your plans for the 4th? I was planning on having a low key weekend and now I have tons of plans and errands to run in advance of my move and my trip to Boston next week!
Left Coast Contessa 
Oh my gosh, those look amazing. I love tomatoes. And grilled with garlic? Drool. I love summer!
YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
o.m.g. I am a huge fan of heirloom tomatoes so I was drooling while reading this!
This looks so delicious and so easy to make !! I love simple dinners, especially when I have no time to cook because of school.
One questin though.. I see you kept the garlic on the tomatoes. How small do the pieces of garlic have to be?
Hey Veronique, I diced the garlic, not too big but not too small.
oh man, i need to find some of those at my farmers market!!!