We’re living on tomato toast this month~ and you can too! Here are my favorite ways to combine toasty bread and juicy tomatoes; enjoy them as an appetizer, lunch, or light and healthy summer dinner.
When summer tomatoes are at their best, you really don’t want to mess with them too much. Tomato toast is my favorite way to turn them into a quick meal that feels satisfying and hearty, but lets those fresh, seasonal tomatoes truly shine. If you’re like me and living on tomato toast from about now until September, there are plenty of ways to mix it up so you don’t get bored!
Use Heirloom Varieties ~
Tomato toast is an ideal way to appreciate the subtle variations in flavors, colors, and textures that heirloom tomatoes are famous for. Rubbing the surface of your bread with a garlic clove or brushing it with a bit of pesto (or mayo!) before toasting adds great flavor to these heirloom tomato toasts ~ how many colors can you count??
Fire up the grill ~
Kick your tomato toast up a notch by grilling the bread and the tomatoes, it’s a great way to enjoy your tomato toast with a bit of char-grilled flavor. Thread colorful cherry tomatoes on a skewer before popping them on the grill just until they start to burst. Creamy goat cheese is the perfect contrast to that crunchy bread and bright, acidic tomatoes on these grilled cherry tomato toasts.
Chop them up ~
If you’ve had one to many tomato-and-mayo sandwiches this season, try a traditional Italian bruschetta. It’s a classic for a reason ~ the simple combination of chopped tomatoes, fruity olive oil, and ribbons of fresh basil just can’t be beat. The juice of the tomatoes soaks into the crunchy bread to make it irresistible. If you’ve got lots of tomatoes, any extra bruschetta topping can be mixed into pasta for a super easy summer meal, too!
For me it was tomato toast sandwiches growing up in southern Illinois. So good my mouth waters at the mere thought. However, this recipe takes those tomato sandwiches to a whole new level. Rustic bread toasted and rubbed with garlic, blistered tomatoes. Does it get any better than this?
Love your recipes and ideas!
I grew up on hot buttered toast, preferably toasted on a skillet to let all that butter sink in, and topped with cold sliced tomato—for breakfast! As I have grown older (well past senior citizen age, I’ve become sensitive to red tomatoes. Yellow ones make a good substitute.
I never knew that anyone outside my family ate toast and tomato, but I’m looking forward to trying new ways.
Wow! Have never heard of it referred to as this. We’ve always just called it toasted tomato sandwiches. Maybe this is a U.S. thing? Some tasty looking ideas Sue. No tomatoes even close here yet..just starting to blossom.
Love this idea!! Simple, easy and flavorful it’s what summer meals are all about. Delish!! 🙂
It`s all about having really good that makes this go and fresh picked tomatoes from our garden.Heirlooms don`t do well in our space so we no longer plant them.Sue these look great and will try them all,unfortunately we can`t get good bread in town just the supermarket stuff.Acquiring good bread is 10 miles so off we go! Thank you.
Yum! Such a Summertime treat for my family.Toast and tomatoes! Love this! Dad always had fresh garden tomatoes every Summer! We also enjoyed radish and butter sandwiches, and amazing green onion butter sandwiches. The chopped up green onions mixed with soft butter and a little onion powder, then spread on soft white bread. Grandma always cut them on the diagonal. A must for all out family BBQ’s! Fun!
I love your green onion and butter sandwiches ~ I’m going to try that this weekend 🙂