Tomatoes!

Lenexa owner Andy Wingert is an avid tomato farmer and shares his favorite

tomato salad recipe.

Andy’s Mozzarella Tomato Salad

•  3 large tomatoes, sliced
• ½ cup cubes mozzarella
• ¼ cup balsamic vinaigrette
• ¼ cup Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cucumber sliced

Put tomatoes and cucumbers in a bowl.  In a container with a tight fitting lid, combine the balsamic vinaigrette, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper; shake well.  Pour over the vegetables and let sit a bit.  Serve.

 Tomato Cherry Vinaigrette Halibut

 

Vinaigrette ingredients:

• 1 small sprig basil
• ½ lb. tomatoes (such as beefsteak or cherry), coarsely chopped
• ¼ cup fresh sweet (or frozen, thawed) cherries, pitted
• ¼ cup fresh sour cherries, pitted, or sour cherries in light syrup from a jar, drained
• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp. finely chopped shallot
• ½ tsp. (or more) sugar
• ? tsp. kosher salt plus more
• 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Halibut:

• 4 6-oz. halibut fillets
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil plus more for drizzling

 

Vinaigrette:

Combine basil, tomatoes, sweet and sour cherries, vinegar, shallot, sugar, and ? tsp. salt in a large bowl; cover and let sit at room temperature 1–2 hours.

Remove basil sprig. Purée tomato mixture in a blender until smooth; strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl, whisk in oil, and season with salt.

Halibut:

Season halibut with salt and pepper. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Cook halibut until golden brown and just opaque in the center, about 4 minutes per side.

Serve halibut with tomato-cherry vinaigrette, drizzled with oil.

 

DO AHEAD: Vinaigrette can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

Tomato Bacon Biscuits

Little buttermilk biscuit cups baked with a savory mixture of bacon and tomato inside.

 

 

• 8 slices bacon
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 (16 ounce) can refrigerated buttermilk
• biscuit dough

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a mini muffin pan.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until evenly brown. Drain on paper towels. Crumble bacon into a medium mixing bowl; add chopped tomato, onion, Swiss cheese, mayonnaise, and basil.

Separate biscuits into halves horizontally. Place each half into prepared mini muffin pan. Fill each biscuit half with the bacon mixture.

Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes.

 

 

 

Garlic Tomato Relish

 

• 1 head of garlic, cloves separated
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 pound plum tomatoes (about 6), halved, cored
• 1 tsp. kosher salt

 

 

Preheat oven to 300°. Toss tomatoes, garlic, rosemary and thyme sprigs, oil, and salt in a large baking dish.

Bake tomatoes until they are soft and skins begin to shrivel, 35–45 minutes. Let cool slightly, then slip off skins. Discard herbs.

 

DO AHEAD: Tomatoes can be made 5 days ahead. Cover tomatoes and oil and ­chill.