With nineteen plants growing away in our backyard we have had an abundance of tomatoes lately. Not a bad problem to have! Can you believe that I didn’t even like tomatoes when I was a kid? What was wrong with me? I remember watching my dad sprinkle them with salt or slather them with mayonaise and eat them like apples standing over the kitchen sink. I was so grossed out. Now, I do the exact same thing. Is it even possible not the turn into our parents when we get older? Sheesh.

I’ve been similarly grossed out by the idea of cold soup. It does not sound appealing to me at all. Soup is great. Soup is meant to be hot. Or so I thought. My friend Jennifer just shared her recipe for gazpacho with us and since nearly all of the ingredients were growing less than 50 feet from my kitchen counter I figured I had run out of excuses to give it a try. Guess what? I was as wrong about gazpacho as I was about tomatoes. Below is my, slightly altered, version of Jennifer’s recipe. It would be perfect as an appetizer for a dinner party on the patio.

Lots o’ tomatoes  (I filled my blender nearly all the way full with cherry and halved tomatoes)

1 green pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 tablespoon wed wine vinegar

2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled

1 1/2 cup french bread, in chunks and soaked in water

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Load the tomatoes in the blender and mix well to make room for the rest of the ingredients. Add in the rest of the ingredients, squeeze water from the bread before adding it, and mix well. Chill well before serving.

You can serve gazpacho with a variety of toppings. I fried up some diced ham in for ours and it was great!

Sometimes dinner just has to be made of random things found in the kitchen. This is normal. Most of the time for us that means bean burritos or velveeta shells and cheese. This week, though, we hit the jackpot. This dinner couldn’t have been better if I’d planned it a month in advance. And, even better, it fits right in with our From the Garden & Farm summer series!

We had just roasted cherry tomatoes from our garden and I wanted to use them somehow. I happened to have some rice, goat cheese, leftover chicken stock and an old bottle of dry white wine on hand. Enter the star of the show: risotto. We make risotto often. It’s pretty simple and always delicious. You should give it a try!

Creamy Risotto with Goat Cheese and Roasted Tomatoes

1 shallot, diced

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 cups Arborio Rice (We actually use a nice, high quality, short grain regular rice – works great and costs much less!)

1 cup dry white wine

4 cups chicken stock (you could also use veggie stock if you want this to be vegetarian friendly)

4 tablespoons goat cheese

1 cup roasted cherry tomatoes (see yesterday’s post for a quick how-to)

In a large non-stick skillet (I use my braiser by Le Creuset), heat olive oil and sauté shallot and garlic. Add in rice and toast for about 2 minutes. Stir in white wine. Continue to stir until nearly all liquid has been absorbed. Repeat with chicken stock, one cup at a time, until rice is cooked through and creamy. Stir in goat cheese (reserving a few crumbled for garnish). Serve is bowls topped with roasted tomatoes.