Tomato Tuesday: Gluten-free Tomato Tart

Today, July 24th, 2012, bloggers are donating their posts to the fight for slave-free tomatoes.  Check out participating bloggers here.   A special thanks to Nicole, of The Giving Table, for putting this call to action together!

This event was created by The Giving Table to support the International Justice Mission‘s summer campaign- Recipe for Change.  IMJ is a human rights agency committed to fighting modern day slavery and exploitation around the world.  Forced labor is happening on U.S. tomato fields.  Check out Tomatoland if you’d like an inside story (a great book!).

This summer, IMJ has partnered with The Coalition of Immokalee Workers and The Fair Food Standards Council to sponsor a campaign to raise awareness about the treatment of workers on U.S. tomato fields.  In addition, the campaign is asking CEO’s of large supermarket chains to endorse The Fair Food Program, ensuring that tomatoes sold in their stores are slave-free.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is a community-based organization of migrant workers that advocates for rights of farmworkers in Immokalee, FL.  The program was developed to protect Florida’s tomato pickers from exploitation.  The corporations that join the Fair Food Program agree to pay a small price increase for harvested tomatoes (1.5 cents more per pound) and shift purchases to Florida tomato growers who abide by the higher standards.  The 3 supermarket chains targeted this summer are: Ahold (Giant, Peapod, Martin’s, Albert), Publix, and Kroger.

Where can you find slave-free tomatoes?
CSA’s
Farmer’s Markets (DC’s FreshFarm Markets)
Whole Foods
Trader Joe’s

Please join Evi and Sam in signing the petition- Recipe for Change Letter.

Gluten-Free Tomato Tart
Adapted from: Anja’s Food 4 Thought & Simply Whole Kitchen

The best tomatoes for this tart are the juiciest, and most colorful one’s.  Find a heirloom variety at your local farmer’s market and slice them.  If there are any leftover tomato slices, enjoy them with some fresh mozzarella, salt, pepper and olive oil!

Crust:
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup almond flour
3 tbsp whole-grain oat flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 oz cold butter, cut into cubes
1 tbsp ice cold water
1 egg, lightly beaten

Filling:
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
1/4 cup basil, finely chopped

In a food processor combine buckwheat flour, almond flour, whole grain oat flour, and salt.  Once it’s mixed well, add in the butter and pulse under the mixture is crumbly.  Next, add in the water and egg.  Keep pulsing until the mixture turns into a ball (it might be a bit sticky).  Shape it into a disk, then wrap it with parchment paper, keep in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  With cooking spray, grease a 9-inch tart pan.

Roll out the dough, and press all of it into the tart pan.  Bake it for 15 minutes.  Allow to cool off for at least 20 minutes.

To make the filling, heat olive oil in a saute pan.  Once the olive oil is hot, add in the onion.  Cook it until it is translucent, then add in the garlic.  Stir in the onion, garlic and cheese in a large bowl, season with salt and pepper.  Then pour the mixture into the cooled-off tart.  Arrange the tomato slices on top of the tart.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Bake the tart for 20 minutes, or until the cheese melts.  Allow to cool off before sprinkling basil over the top.  Divide into pieces, share with friends!

Want to learn more about this topic?  Check out some of these books and articles:
Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit (Barry Estabrook)
Join Michael Pollan in Ending Slavery of Tomato Workers
Did a Slave Grow Your Tomato?
Slavery in the Tomato Fields

Peppers & Tomatoes

I’m sure many of you will be disappointed that there won’t be a recipe at the end of this post.  But I do have some gorgeous pictures of tomatoes and peppers from the Farmer’s Market, hopefully enticing you to buy some of summer’s best.

Instead, I’m posting a link to my friend Meaghin’s blog.  She lives in Brooklyn, New York and her posts always include beautiful pictures, and delicious recipes.  Mainly what I’d like to point out her blog post about tomatoes.

In her post she mentions the book Tomatoland, and discusses the tomato industry.  This is the same book which was mentioned in this post, which had this link to the NPR article.

All of us can eat any fruit or vegetable at any time throughout the year.  For example, if we would like cucumbers or peppers in December, there will always be some in the local grocery store.  The question all of us have to ask ourselves is whether produce will taste as delicious when you buy it out of season?  Tomatoland focuses on another factor we should take into consideration when purchasing out of season tomatoes (or other fruits and vegetables)- human welfare.  After reading Meaghin’s post, I’m even more intrigued about the book- I think it might have to be my next read!

Has anyone else read the book? 

Heat wave & tomatoes

Temperatures are soaring all over the US.  Tomorrow will be extremely hot in DC (100°F or more).  The humidity does not help.  And if you’ve been to DC in the summer before, you know how sticky it gets here.  So with the temperatures soaring, all of us are melting into puddles.  Non-cooking dishes do not only sound fantastic- they are essential for our survival.

What I do like about summer are tomatoes.  Especially tomatoes from the Farmer’s Market.  Have you ever really looked a tomato?  Up close?  Aren’t they beautiful?

And what do you do when you have delicious looking tomatoes and it’s hot outside?

Tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and basil.

Yum!

I hope all of you go out and get some beautiful tomatoes, and enjoy them.  All you will need is:

tomatoes (depending on size about 1-3)
fresh mozzarella (2-3 small balls)
basil (5-10 leaves)
Salt & pepper

Cut the tomatoes into slices.  Arrange them nicely on a plate.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Chiffonade the basil, and sprinkle over the plate.  Lastly, slice the mozzarella, and place a piece on each tomato slice.  You can drizzle the dish with olive oil, but I preferred the earthy flavor of the tomatoes.  Serve and enjoy.  A fresh baguette and butter are a fantastic addition.

And to leave you with something more to read, rather than just looking at the delicious pictures, here’s an interesting article.  It discusses how the tomato flavor and production in the US has changed over the last 50 years.

How Industrial Farming ‘Destroyed’ the Tasty Tomato

Stay cool!