The Too Many Tomatoes Cookbook

You say, tomato. I say, pomodoro. Yes, one of the more flavorful words that I learned to speak in Italian before I learned to speak it in English. Yellow, orange, red. Round, plum, cherry, green. Leaves, then flowers, then vines. Then salad, and simmering red sauce. Growing, outproducing itself right alongside the fresh green basil, mint, and lettuce. The scents of the garden in summer are sweet.

Aside from a generational symbol of family tradition, the tomato represents the abundant harvest that comes from caring for, cultivating, and planting a seed. One little seed. Add good light. Tender care. When the time is right, transplant the seedling into the fertile earth. To root. Water, every other day. Watch the leaves flower. And then turn into green, firm, unripe tomatoes. As they ripen, they soften. And come into their magnificent color. Beautiful and luscious.

The Too Many Tomatoes Cookbook, Classic & Exotic Recipes from around the World, © 2009 by Brain Yarvin, Photography by Brian Yarvin, published by The Countryman Press. Cover and Interior Book Design by Michelle Farinella Design.

*Design Award*
Bronze Medal for Book and Cover Design
The Art Directors Club of New Jersey, 2009

*Design Award*
American Graphic Design Award
Excellence in Communication Design, Book and Cover Design
Graphic Design USA, 2010

This 224-Page Cookbook includes over 100 mouthwatering recipes. The concise instructions are easy-to-follow, the photography exquisite. You will learn how to process and preserve the freshness of your own homegrown harvest straight from the garden. You will enjoy traditional to unique recipes from salads, side dishes, soups; to meat, poultry, and fish dishes; to rice, pastas, pizzas, salsas, even desserts. Prepare yourself, though, it’s hard to choose a favorite among these recipes.

Some of the recipes are: Bruschetta with Tomato, Greek Salad, Hawaiian-Style Salmon Salad, Indian Tomato and Lentil Soup, Italian-Style Tomato Soup, Beef and Tomato Chow Mein, Southwestern-Style Spicy Gazpacho, Japanese Beef and Tomato Stir-Fy, Chicken Cacciatore, Vegetable and Cheese Lasagna, Dried Tomato and Olive Bread, Tomato Pesto, Chutney, and Marmalade. And, for dessert, Tomato Soup Cake and Green Tomato Pie!

Brian Yarvin is an enthusiastic chef, educator, and photographer, who has written about and photographed food for many local and national publications. Brian lives and cooks in Edison, New Jersey.

I have also had the honor of designing Brian’s previous cookbook,  A World of Dumplings, also published by The Countryman Press in Vermont. Also full of the most wonderful recipes from every tradition.

This week I’m reminded that creativity is at times a seed that needs to planted. It needs to germinate. It needs good light, and tender care. The idea seedling needs to root. When the time is right. It will flower, and flourish. It naturally ripens on the vine. As it ripens, it softens. And comes into its harvestable form.

Like the pomodoro.

What idea seedling has flourished into the most bountiful harvest for you?