I've Been Waiting

Just about the time I started to look for recipes using green tomatoes I found these four tomatoes buried among the leaves. I became hopeful and "switched gears" looking for recipes using red tomatoes. A recent stretch of warm sunny days has helped them turn red.  

The best nature has to offer in summer foods are when the corn is sweet, fresh and plentiful, the tomatoes are ripe on the vine and the zucchini so abundant it almost overtakes the garden. Corn, tomatoes and zucchini or squash make a flavorful combination. A recent article in the Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/220531961.html  Hitting The Summer Trifecta, the author Daniel Neman, coined a new word calling the three vegetables together with a single identifiable flavor "cotozu". Technically, tomatoes and zucchini are both fruits and corn is a grain. But they are cooked and eaten like vegetables. 
The following recipes uses all three together as a relish. There are lots of possibilities with this relish. It can be served over grilled meat or seafood. The relish can also stand alone as a salsa. The dressing has a little kick with the sweet and sour flavors. 
Some options include using a variety of tomatoes,  substitute summer squash for zucchini , add in yellow, red or green peppers and 1 jalapeno minced.
The flavor is intensified when the relish is refrigerated at least 4 hours or overnight for best results.     

Corn, Tomato and Zucchini Relish

recipe adapted Food and Wine magazine "A Crafty Lass"
Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 TB. packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1/4 tsp. minced ginger or ginger spice but use a little less than 1/4 tsp.
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 large ears of corn 
• 2-1/2 cups cherry tomatoes (1/2 inch pieces)
• 3/4 cup diced zucchini or yellow squash (1/2 inch pieces) 
• 1/2 cup diced green pepper (1/2 inch pieces)
• 3 TB. minced onion
• 1 jalapeno, or to taste, minced  

Directions:

• In a small saucepan, boil vinegar, brown sugar and salt just till dissolved. Pour in a large bowl
• In same saucepan heat olive oil on a medium heat, add in garlic, onion, mustard seeds, ginger, pepper and cumin. Saute about a 1 minute   
• Slowly whisk oil mixture into vinegar mixture and mix well 
• Blanch the corn in boiling water 2 minutes, place in an ice bath to cool, cut kernels off cob and add them in the bowl with oil and vinegar mixture
• Add in tomatoes, peppers, and minced jalapeno-gently stir
• Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight 

I don't care what anybody says: Nothing is better than a tomato you grow. There's something about it that's different than a tomato you can buy. It's a great thing.

Tom Vilsack-American politician and US Secretary of Agriculture since 2009