Marinated Tomatoes

I closed on a beautiful home in Davis Island this week. The buyers — a young couple, first-timers — looked at the keys the way I looked at my real estate license in 2012: like they were holding the future in their hands.

Mama called at noon to tell me Aunt Sophia has heartburn again. She reported this with the urgency of a woman who considers every piece of information critical and every phone call an opportunity to also critique my cooking from forty miles away.

Some weeks are ordinary. This was an ordinary week. I sold houses. I cooked dinner. I called Mama. I drove to Tarpon Springs on Sunday. The extraordinary thing about ordinary weeks is that they are the ones you miss most when they are gone.

I made stuffed peppers — bell peppers filled with rice, lamb, tomatoes, and pine nuts, baked until soft and fragrant. Autumn on a plate. I ate it on the back porch while the sun set and the air smelled like oregano and summer. A quiet evening. The food was good. Good is enough. Good is everything.

I visited the bakery this weekend. Mama was behind the counter, flour on her apron, her face set in the concentration of a woman who takes baking as seriously as other people take surgery. I stood next to her and rolled dough and said nothing because the silence between us is not empty — it is full of every recipe she taught me and every critique she gave me and every morning she woke at 4 AM to make phyllo that nobody else can make.

The stuffed peppers I made that evening called for good tomatoes — ripe ones, the kind that smell like a garden — and I had more than I needed, which is never a problem worth complaining about. I’ve been making marinated tomatoes alongside big dinners for years, the way Mama makes them: simply, without fuss, with enough olive oil and herbs to remind you that the best food rarely asks much of you. After a week of closing deals and rolling dough in silence and feeling proud of ordinary things, this was exactly the right dish to set beside everything else on the table.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes (includes marinating) | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 large ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Instructions

Slice the tomatoes. Arrange the tomato slices in a single layer in a shallow dish or on a rimmed platter, overlapping slightly if needed.
Make the marinade. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, oregano, basil, sugar, salt, and pepper until combined.
Dress the tomatoes. Pour the marinade evenly over the tomato slices, making sure each slice is coated.
Marinate. Let the tomatoes sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes so the flavors can meld. Do not refrigerate — cold dulls the flavor of fresh tomatoes.
Finish and serve. Scatter fresh parsley over the top just before serving. Serve at room temperature as a side dish or alongside crusty bread.

Nutrition (per serving)

Marinated Tomatoes — A Side Dish as Simple and Satisfying as an Ordinary Week