Evan Sung for The New York Times
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MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2015
What to Do With Those Perfect Tomatoes: 7 Juicy Recipes
 MELISSA CLARK
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It's finally happened: tomato-palooza at the farmers' market, tables overflowing with tomato goodness everywhere you turn. I know I can't leave the market without heavy bags of multihued heirlooms hanging off each arm.
Then I'll spend a happy week eating them every day, at almost every meal: on toast, with or without butter or mayo; cubed and stirred into yogurt with a little salt and chile flakes (try it, it's not as weird as it sounds); tiny cherry tomatoes nibbled by the handful like popcorn. August is the best time of year for tomato lovers.
The easiest way to incorporate your splendid haul into meals is a simple salad. Slice a tomato or two, maybe a green zebra and a red Jersey for color contrast, then drizzle with your best olive oil, a sprinkle of flaky salt and a few torn herbs, whatever you've got handy. That's enough, especially if you also have grilled chicken or fish on the menu, maybe these skewers from Martha Rose Shulman.
If you want to make a tomato salad into a meal, try this version from David Tanis, with a shallot vinaigrette and garlicky anchovy toast on the side. Slightly more work, worth every second.
Tomatoes and anchovies are a match made in heaven, or maybe southern France or Italy, which is close enough to heaven for me. A few years ago I started dolloping an anchovy-spiked tonnato sauce - the kind you'd usually see with rosy slices of poached veal - onto thick slabs of tomato. Seriously tasty, not very hard.
And if you haven't yet whirled some ripe tomatoes into Julia Moskin's zesty and flavorful gazpacho, this week is the time to do so.
Other tomato ideas to contemplate include Mark Bittman's tomato jam for using up all the slightly overripe specimens that need a home. Or how about homemade (or substitute store bought) strozzapreti pasta with roasted tomatoes?
And finally, for something gorgeously elaborate, but still within the realm of weekday cooking (O.K., maybe pushing the envelope ever so slightly), you could try my caramelized tomato tarte Tatin. Keep the caramel on the lighter side of amber if your tomatoes are on the acidic side. Or for very sweet tomatoes, cook the caramel nice and dark. The darker the caramel, the less sweet it will be.
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