Summer Tomato Gardening
Across the street at Flora Gardens nursery this spring, Tomatomania! blew out a slew of heirloom, hybrid and “garden variety” lycopersicum transplants. Take a wild guess. They were probably dealing Ze...
Recipes by Scott Daigre and Mark Donofrio adapted from Tomatomania! A Fresh Approach to Celebrating Tomatoes in the Garden and in the Kitchen by Scott Daigre and Jenn Garbee.
Special thanks to Houwelings in Oxnard, Underwood Family Farms in Somis, and Rainbow Bridge Market in Ojai for providing tomatoes for these photographs.
Green tomatoes always provide a tangy bright taste, no matter how they’re used, but here green and yellow zebra stripes change the tone of a summer salsa—especially when we add a secret ingredient: unripe (green) Habanada peppers.
New to the scene, Habanadas are one of the first offerings of Row 7 Seed Company, a chef-driven company dedicated to hybridizing vegetables for taste. Habanada, as its name suggests, is a Habanero pepper that has no heat. All the wonderful flavors of the pepper shine through without a searing hot back end. It’s a Habanero we can all enjoy.
While we love this hugely productive little orange pepper, they do take their time ripening. So last season, in our impatience, we harvested several of them unripe and green. They found a solid place in this salsa.
Surround a big bowl of this salsa with blue corn chips or throw it on your burger or BLT instead of a beefsteak. But don’t forget to save a bit to enjoy alongside your eggs in the morning.
This crisp fresh salsa is rated E for Everyone; it is mild enough for kids. If you’d like a bit more kick, swap out that mild chile for a serrano or small jalapeño.
Ingredients
SERVINGS: 4 Cup(s)
- 5 Green Zebra tomatoes, roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup red onion, finely sliced
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves, chopped
- ½ cup small red bell pepper, finely sliced
- Juice of ½ lime, set aside other half
- 4 unripe (green) Habanada peppers (or any unripe mild chile), deseeded and finely diced
- ¼ cup finely sliced cucumber
- Kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and garlic powder to taste
Preparation
Drain tomatoes after slicing, then mix all fresh ingredients in medium bowl. Once combined, season to taste with salt, pepper, garlic powder and juice of reserved half lime.
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