Recipe Archive

Cold tomato soup? “Sounds gross.” That’s what I said right before tasting my first gazpacho. It was the first restaurant I worked in as a young man and I had no idea what I was in for. At almost the same time as the combination of ripe tomatoes, vinegar, onions, and spices hit my tongue, a wooden spoon hit me in the back of the head as my Chef told me to stop eating all the gazpacho or we wouldn’t have enough for service.

Not only does it taste good on its own, but a good tomato sandwich takes me back to the hot summer days of my youth. Starving after a full day of swimming and fishing, with still-wet hands, I would take the sandwich from my mother and eat it all in three bites and ask for another. As I think about it now, I realize I never questioned the tomato sandwich’s simplicity. Not once did I wonder if it might be better with some turkey, cheese and mustard‚Äö and chips‚Äö and a pickle. Trying to preserve the integrity of the tomato sandwich, I have dressed it up a bit so that any sophisticated sandwich-eating adult can enjoy it like I did as a child, and as I do now.

This recipe was published as part of Food & Water Watch’s recipe booklet Fish & Tips, a collection of recipes for preparing fish we recommended in our 2008 Smart Seafood Guide.

Pesto is great to have around for pasta, vegetables and even dressing roasted meats and sandwiches. I like to use different herb and nut combinations for taste variation. My favorite is pecan parsley pesto.

Cauliflower is an inexpensive and versatile ingredient. It is delicious raw, blanched, roasted or pureed. In this recipe, we are going to roast the cauliflower and dress it up a bit. It can be paired with poached fish or roasted chicken, or be eaten on its own.

Last night I had friends in town and wanted to prepare a dinner from items I sourced locally. Now, I live in the desert three hours from any major population of people, so this is a big challenge. If I can do it, anyone can! Here is what I found.