i heart heirlooms

not all tomatoes are created equal. did you know that there are over 7,500 varieties that exist? i'm a big fan of heirlooms. this year has been tough--don't get me started on my bad luck streak with tomato gardening this year, or i'll cry. i did have one big, perfect, blue ribbon beaut that made all of it worth while. above is my favorite, the gold medal. it weighed a little over a pound and tasted like heaven.
look at that gorgeous red marbling in the interior. i'm incredibly snooty about my tomatoes and refuse to buy any in commercial grocery stores unless i'm really really really really desperate--i refer to those as "robo" tomatoes. sure, they look like tomatoes, but have been treated with a special gas to hasten the ripening process. they taste like watery, mushy, air.
here is said gold medal tomato on a sammich with veganaise, pickles, and onions. i served this with some cauli-slaw. the slaw recipe is easy: green onion, dill, shredded carrot, cauliflower, apple cider vinegar, veganaise, salt, and pepper. toss together and chill.
taco salad with my signature heirloom tomato salsa.
let's step away and really take in the beauty of it all. complete with a green chile. i've had really good success this year with chiles: i'm growing a couple different kinds of hot green chiles and an amazing fish pepper plant that makes the best homemade sweet chile sauce.

i don't have a photo of it, but here's my standard recipe for new mexico style green chile sauce:

• 2 cups diced green chiles
• 1 cup of veg. stock
• 1 super small sweet onion
• 2 t cumin
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1T olive oil or EB
• 1T flour
• 1-2 t of bragg's

saute onion and garlic in oil or EB. add chiles and stock. simmer for about 15 minutes, adding any extra stock as needed. it shouldn't look like soup, but not like gravy either--somewhere in between. after 15 mins, cool and run in the blender. goes great over burritos but i put this on veggies, rice, potatoes, etc.