Wednesday, June 27, 2007

You Say To-mae-toe, I Say, "NASTY"

Well. The unthinkable happened, this morning. I (me!) lapped somebody while on my morning jog. Granted, the somebody was rather stationary when I BLEW past him, as he was trying to wrangle the most adorable golden retriever puppy who was taking orgasmic, full-body face-plants into the mud in the grass, and I may have snorted just a little when I saw him do that, thus diminishing my superiority rush from the incredible feat of Passing Somebody, but WHATEVER because I now rule the jogging world!

Speed walkers, beware. I am catching up to you.

Meanwhile, I thought of another random fact about myself that I forgot to add to the list, yesterday. I don’t like tomatoes. I really don’t. I don’t even like tomato sauce or ketchup. I eat them now that I am older (I hated birthday parties as a kid, because they inevitably involved pizza) because I have learned, in my wise old age, that ooey-gooey melted cheese and bread trump a bit of sauce, but I still don’t looooove tomatoes.

But I have decided that I want to like tomatoes. I want to be the type of person who eats them. They are on everything, from sandwiches to salads to 95% of the entrees in Italian restaurants. And I like the idea of tomatoes with hunks of mozzarella and basil on them. Mmm, mozzarella. So I am on a quest to learn to like tomatoes. Recently, I have been forcing myself to eat them in very small bites.

The Funasaurus, who is a faux-tomato-hater because the thing is, he really loves them, he adores tomato sauce and puts ketchup on pretty much everything (including eggs and filet mignon) but swears that he hates the actual little fruit in its unadulterated form, says that I am buying into tomato propaganda. He says I’ve been hooked by the tomato lobby, and I should fight back.

By eating a lot of mustard, I suppose.

But I am still curious, and wanting to fit in with the tomato eaters, so if anyone out there has a good recipe for something tomato-y but not too tomato-y, let me know.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmmm... I'm guessing it's the flavor more than the texture of the tomato that gets to you? You mentioned cheese and basil getting you over your fear, so toss together a caprese salad--big chunks of mozzarella, fresh basil, mixed greens, and then start with just a bit of tomato tossed in and work your way up from there--drizzle a little balsamic vinegar or balsamic vinaigrette and you will get a little taste of what heaven might be like. Another good one is to thinly slice some tomatoes and sneak them into a grilled cheese sandwich--mmmmm!

Diane said...

I like Angela's suggestion, and would add bruschetta or greek salads (I heart feta!)

I didn't used to like tomato juice, but liked the idea of bloody marys, so learned to like them (provided they are dolled up very spicy)

p.s. i'll post my list of 8 manana!

Heather said...

Actually, I think you did mention texture once - as in "mealy," for tomatoes. Honey, you've got to get some home grown tomatoes, and that will convert you - these grocery store ones are not in the same ballpark! I love me some good juicy homegrown tomatoes with cottage cheese, salt and pepper.

Another way to sneak tomatoes in is to use itty bitty ones, like grape or cherry tomatoes in pasta salads.

Pauline said...

Go for the gold - golden cherry tomatoes don't look like tomatoes and if you grow your own in a pot you might learn to love the little critters.

M-M-M-Mishy said...

I was never a tomato-eating person, but one day I woke up and started to crave them... Weird. I like Grilled Cheese and Tomato Sandwiches. Regular grilled cheese with a slice of Tomato in there. Or Tomato Soup! Mmm... love that.

It's not tomato-related, but have you ever tried Grilled Cheese and Apple Sandwiches? Sounds strange, but its really good!

Princess in Galoshes said...

Thanks for the ideas, everyone!

Angela, sadly, it's the flavor AND texture. But nice idea on the grilled cheese sandwich! I always need an excuse to eat more bread and cheese. :-)

Diane, I heart feta, too. And Bloody Marys aren't ALL bad, as long as there is enough spice to cover up the tomato flavor.

Ham, are you my mom? She says I need to start with the home-grown ones, too. I had no idea there was such a difference. I just thought a tomato was a tomato was yucky.

Pauline, GOLD? I had no idea. I will definitely go get me some gold ones. Can you find those at a regular grocery store???

Mish, I love cheese. I love apples. I love bread. So I can't imagine why I wouldn't love them all together and grilled! Fabulous idea.

Anonymous said...

Two words: Vodka Sauce

It's basically alfredo sauce with a little bit of tomato mixed in. I buy the Safeway brand here. Yum!

Anonymous said...

I hate tomatoes, too. Except I only hate them in fruit form -- I really like tomato sauces, ketchup, etc. On the other hand, I don't really have any desire to start liking tomatoes. I'm working on liking mushrooms at the moment. Maybe after I've conquered mushrooms I can start working on tomatoes...who knows!