Today's Breakfast

Sliced Brandywine tomatoes with shaved goat Gouda cheese, red onion and torn basil leaves.


Season with fine extra-virgin olive oil, course salt and freshly ground black pepper. Consume immediately.


Shopping time: none

Preparation time: about five minutes.

We have four varieties of tomatoes growing in cages in our garden: Brandywine, Cherokee purple (both heirlooms), plum and a golden cherry tomato. The Brandywine and cherry tomato plants seem to be the most productive at this point, and we are beginning to see quite a few coming to ripeness now.


Coincidentally, the basil plants are tall, bushy and vibrant. In other words, completely in synch with the tomatoes.

To my mind, there is only one way to eat a big, juicy, delicious tomato such as a ripe Brandywine, and that is just as I have described above, or maybe with just a pinch of salt now and then as you eat it whole, like and apple.