Tomato

The keys to this fast, simple dish, which was inspired by a crab-stuffed tomato at Yves Camdeborde's Paris brasserie, Le Comptoir du Relais, are ripe tomatoes, fresh herbs, and excellent crabmeat.

Thanksgiving goes Provençal with this elegant dish.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text are from Dana Slatkin's book The Summertime Anytime Cookbook. With an appealing assortment of textures and flavors, this simple yet unexpected whitefish preparation will enhance any evening. In case you're not familiar with kohlrabi, it's part cabbage, part root; looks like a small, light green (or sometimes purple) turnip; and tastes like a cross between celery root and broccoli stem. This dish is flexible enough that you can substitute any mild fish, such as halibut, red snapper, or John Dory, or swap the kohlrabi for broccoli or cauliflower.

A stylish symphony in green, this dish has a heady bouquet to match. The tart tomatoes and sweet melon are the stars, but the supporting players—hot jalapeño, earthy pumpkin seeds, and pungent cilantro—add plenty of intrigue.

Bring on the bacon! For an even leaner option, try turkey bacon in Conlan’s creation.

Conlan's French twist on tuna gives you nearly 1 g of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids along with the tart and tangy taste of olives, anchovies and capers.

What may seem like an incongruous mixture is actually a harmonious blend of ingredients and textures. There are few dishes that illustrate how the seemingly disparate flavors of sweet, sour, bitter, and salty can be successfully combined. One tip: While the melon should be chilled, the other ingredients are their most flavorful at room temperature, so combine the salad just before serving.

Delivering a lot of summer glamor for very little work, this gorgeous dish balances the baritone flavor and fat of the steak with the tomatoes' coloratura acidity. Take care not to overcook the tomatoes—they should be in the hot pan just long enough to release some of their juices, which create a natural sauce for the steak.

Think of this marvelous first course as a savory sundae, with a pretty salad of crunchy julienned vegetables topping the icy granita. Cream Sherry adds a sweet base note to the granita, while the sharpness of Sherry vinegar accentuates the tomatoes' acidity.

Using his artist's eye, food editor and stylist Paul Grimes transformed the usual free-form summer tomato salad into a showstopping terrine with structure and elegance. A homemade vegetable broth is the base for the delicate aspic in which the curves of tomato, arranged by color, are suspended.

Favorite Mediterranean ingredients come together in this creamy risotto. Adding the liquid from the tomatoes to the chicken stock underscores the flavor of the fresh tomatoes added at the very end. This is delicious made with any ripe red or orange tomatoes.

This homey dish made everyone in the test kitchen swoon. Roma tomatoes become even more intense when roasted, and this comforting, custardy bread pudding proves the perfect match for their bright flavor. Take it to a potluck, serve it with something grilled, or make it a vegetarian main dish with a green salad.

Tri-tip is flavorful and well-marbled, but because it’s really a roast rather than a steak, salt and seasonings don’t affect it the same way they do a thinner cut. That’s where this Mediterranean-inspired relish comes in. The combination of roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, and capers adds savor to every bite.

Tomatoes, originally native to South America, were not introduced to Italy until the sixteenth century. Now, of course, it's almost impossible to think of Italian cuisine without dozens of delicious tomato-based dishes coming to mind.

Look for thin zucchini and yellow squash. The squash will have fewer seeds.

Avoid the temptation to add too many toppings; a pizza should be more bread than topping. In fact, the basic dough in this recipe may be used to prepare a delicious grilled bread as well as the base for pizza. Shape the dough as you would for individual pizzas, and then grill it over hot coals for about 2 minutes on each side, until it is blistered and browned. After the dough is turned, drizzle with olive oil and scatter it with fresh herbs such as oregano, basil, thyme, or rosemary.

Be sure not to overcook the bacon. Seven minutes is just right.

In 1930, Simon Agranat, the chief justice of the Israeli Supreme Court, wrote to his aunt and uncle in Chicago: "I had my eighth successive egg meal during my three-day journey through the Emek (the valley)." Eggs have always been a main protein for the people in Israel. When I lived in Jerusalem, I would make for my breakfast—or even for dinner—scrambled eggs with sauteed spring onions, fresh herbs, and dollops of cream cheese melted into the eggs as they were cooking. Probably the most popular egg dish in Israel is shakshuka, one of those onomatopoeic Hebrew and North African words, meaning "all mixed up." The most famous rendition of this tomato dish, which is sometimes mixed with meat but more often made in Israel with scrambled or poached eggs, is served at the Tripolitana Doktor Shakshuka Restaurant in Old Jaffa. Doktor Shakshuka, owned by a large Libyan family, is located near the antique market in an old stone-arched building with colorful Arab-tiled floors. "When I was a young girl at the age of ten I liked to cook," said Sarah Gambsor, the main cook of the restaurant and wife of one of the owners. "My mother told me that I should marry someone who has a restaurant." And she did just that. Mrs. Gambsor, a large woman who clearly enjoys eating what she cooks, demonstrated that the dish starts with a heavy frying pan and tomato sauce. Then eggs are carefully broken in and left to set or, if the diner prefers, scrambled in as they cook. The shakshuka is then served in the frying pan at the table.

Meatballs in Tomato Sauce Served with rice, this is one of the homely everyday dishes of virtually every Sephardi community. We called them "blehat." In Turkey they call them "yullikas." In the old days people fried the meatballs first, but now you often find them poached in the sauce. Sometimes they are briefly roasted in the oven at high heat to brown them slightly and firm them before stewing.