I did this last night with a great big beautiful tomato and it was wonderful!!!!

Blag, some pretty darn good idea too. Your Lentil soup sounds really good!!!

Katy, that sauce sounds good and easy!!!!! I likey!!!

Olive oil craving time. Fish, you should try this fresh olive oil. I know it's better than any olive oil I've ever had.

man all this stuff seems very confusing/complicated. i'm very bad at cooking but want to improve. been trying very very very basic stuff (even just finding marinades for chicken). one basic marinade i used last night for 2 chicken breasts were 1/4 cups of soy sauce/sugar and 1/4 tblspoon of white cooking wine. (shove it all in a plastic bag and let it soak for a night). we'll see how it turns out.

Don't despair, most cooking is not really all that complicated, even if it takes a lot of steps or has a lot of ingredients. And even stuff that comes out far from flawless is usually pretty decent. It's a pretty rare dish that even a total birdbrain of a cook actually has to throw out.

Just start small, with things you like, like you're doing with marinades. Good marinades, sauces, and gravies add tremendously to cooking. And you can do quite a bit of experimenting on them without racking up sky high bills. I'd say just approach cooking with a spirit of play. You know, like Legos or something. And the learning process is filled with so many tasty rewards!

I think the scariest thing for most people is if you are cooking something for somebody else, and you've never cooked that recipe or done that particular kind of cooking before. That's why I like to use myself as my guinea pig and practice my favorite recipes enough to get good at them. In other words I don't expect perfection the first time out, or maybe ever. Unless you're cooking for a living, you don't have to get anywhere close. And your food will still taste good. So don't sweat it.

Oh, and don't lick everything in the kitchen when people are looking. Seeing that turns me sour on any meal.

I like mine:

1 tomato
1 trashcan

Throw tomato into trashcan. They are gross LDO.

ban

I agree with the wise diddy potter...tomatoes are nasty things that make me gag. Throw them all away...oh and MODERATOR ABUSE.

I almost hate to admit this now but up until this year's crop of tomatoes I really had no use for them either. I like Salsa, Catchup, spaghetti sauce and other things made with tomatoes but just tomatoes seemed horrible to me. One of my goals this year, inspired by the Lounge, I have decided to try and not be so picky with food and try more things, even things I didn't like such as tomatoes. After growing some and sacking up I decided to actually try some and I found that I really enjoyed the fresh ones from my garden.

I am a convert!!!

Tonight I am going to make Elk Tacos and I think I will try my hand at making a fresh Salsa with the tomatoes. I am going to try using chopped tomatoes, chopped onions, Garlic, Japalenos (or I do have one small serrano pepper, I wish the others would ripen up but they are STILL green) and I am not sure exactly what else. I do have some canned chilies I may throw in as well. I also haven't decided if I will leave it chunky or blend this up to make a smoother sauce?????

I prefer smooth salsa. Sometimes with chunky you end up getting a huge piece of onion on your chip which sucks

I tend to agree with diddy on raw tomatoes, but they are one of the best ingredients ever. plus they are incredibly good for you.

fish, learn to can/preserve tomatoes. they store well, and will be most welcome come winter.

I'm guessing the tomato haters have never eaten a garden fresh tomato. They are completely different from what you get at the grocery store. They do not taste at all alike.

This is exactly what I was thinking. The stuff from the stores is often mushy, sometimes even mealy, and flavorless. I don't blame people for not liking them. Fresh grown ones are completely different. Some, for instance, are so strongly flavored and aromatic that they can actually be harsh. And they don't have that yucky texture.

The way lots of people don't like tomatoes reminds me of what I used to think of spinach. Where I grew up, there was no such thing as fresh spinach. Just that sour, soft stuff, goopy but still stringy at the same time, packed in yucky green water in a can. Blecch. The first time I saw spinach in the produce section of a market was when I moved to Hawaii at about 16 years old. I didn't even know what it was. I was still convinced, even though it looked so different from the stuff in cans, that I hated it, though. When I finally ate some, I was amazed that it could possibly be the same plant I was used to hating the taste of. And now I love it. I just never knew any better.

I love the intensity of raw onion.

you guess incorrectly. I've tried oodles of fresh tomatoes. they just don't do it for me.

I prefer chunky. I use this recipe for Salsa Fresca and love it:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2006/08/th...t-on-my-shirt/
(this link also contains a very tasty and very simple shredded chicken for tacos recipe)

2 large fresh ripe tomatoes, chopped
1/2 large white onion, peeled and minced
1/4 teaspoon minced raw garlic, or to taste
1 habanero or jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced, or to taste
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice or 1 teaspoon red-wine vinegar (I prefer vinegar)
Salt and freshly ground pepper.

Combine all ingredients, taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
Let the flavors marry for 15 minutes or so before serving, but serve within a couple of hours.