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Tomato Love is a joyful collection of recipes that celebrate the favorite high-summer fruit. There’s nothing quite like a luscious Brandywine or a sweet Sungold freshly-picked from the vine, but tasty canned and jarred products ensure tomatoes can be enjoyed year-round. The recipes in this collection invite year-round eating, new takes on classic dishes like red sauce and tomato soup, along with a mix of fresh ideas ranging from Sweet, Spicy, Smoky Barbecue Sauce, Roasted Tomato Basil Soup with Pumpernickel Croutons, to Caprese Pasta Salad with Salami and Shakshuka with Extra Veg. Home cooks, backyard gardeners, and CSA members overwhelmed with the bounty of the season will find dozens of inspiring ideas for introducing variety into the everyday repertoire of meals. With fresh and nourishing ingredients at the forefront, this cookbook makes it easy for families to put good food on the table—with easy cooking steps, ingredients that are readily available, and delicious recipes. Every recipe is shown in a color photo, making the book easy to browse and use.

I’ll start my review with, I do not like tomatoes. Well, in sauce forms I’m good, but not just as a tomato, or juice or soup. However, I don’t feel I need to be a lover of a food to review a cookbook about it. I review on the photos, the descriptions and instructions, as well as a few other things. So here I am reviewing a tomato recipe book because I know others out there love tomatoes.

In TOMATO LOVE, after a 5 page introduction which includes the different varieties of tomatoes and other info, author Joy Howard shares 44 recipes of this very versatile fruit (Yes, it’s a fruit!). While not as many recipes as you might expect a cookbook to have, there are some interesting recipe for tomatoes many of us have never thought about. Here are just a few . . . Mushroom, Kale, and Tomato Strata, Pan con Tomate, Caramelized Onion and Tomato Jam, Sun-Dried Tomato-White Bean Dip, Patlican Soslu, Gingery Bacon-Tomato Fried Rice, Grilled Cilantro-Basil Chicken Skewers with Orzo Pilaf, Oven-Baked Cod with Dill and Sungolds, more.

There are beautiful color photos in TOMATO LOVE. Looks to be one for each dish. Again, I’m not a tomato fan, I have no doubt the photos will make you hungry.

I’m wasn’t sure what sort of recipes would be included in this book, but I thought more of them would be tomato centric, the tomato being the star of the show. While there are creative dishes where the tomato shines, in many recipes the fruit seems to be just an edible garnish.

Releases 

June 21, 2022

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