Peach-Tomato-Basil: Do It, Now

One very good thing about living in Georgia is peach season, which seems to have now begun. We found peaches at a gas station stand just off the highway last week, and this week at our local farmers' market. I love the gas station stands around here for their peaches, watermelons, boiled peanuts, and jars of chow chow. What is chow chow, you ask? Well, it's worthy of its own post, which I imagine I'll get to eventually, but for now suffice it to say it's a vinegary relish of cabbage, tomatoes, spicy peppers, onions, etc. marked by the distinctive flavor of celery seed. Last year we bought some, and when we got home mixed it with our leftover boiled peanuts and some leftover brown rice. That was a fine, simple dinner for road-weary travelers, and I might add, the healthiest meal I have ever found at a gas station. Those three things (chow chow, boiled peanuts, and brown rice) tasted like they were born to be together – I am only surprised no one else has thought of it. Though maybe someone has, and I just couldn't find it in Google. (Not likely. They know about all of us. But if you have thought of it, I'd like to know.)

But I digress. I meant to talk about peaches. Both times we've gotten them so far, they've been a little firm, and needed a couple days to ripen. The first time, my younger daughter refused to believe me, and insisted on trying one RIGHT NOW, so I finally caved, and handed her a hard peach, saying, "Fine. Try it." She took one bite, said, "Mommy, it's hard! Here, Mommy!" and blithely handed it back. "Now do you believe me?" She nodded, and I ate the hard peach. (I find a great portion of my calorie intake comes from food my children have discarded or refused to eat.) For the next couple of days, she would ask every few hours, "Mommy, are the peaches ripe yet?" "No, not yet." But finally, they were. She took a bite and said, "Mommy, it's juicy!" She had a big smile on her face, as juice dripped from her chin onto her dress. And now she wants nothing but peaches. A peach was her dinner last night.

I spoke earlier of foods that were born to be together. I think I have hit upon two things that were born to go with peaches – tomatoes and basil. My older daughter loves cherry and grape tomatoes almost as much as she loves peaches. (Not the younger one – no tomatoes for her. Just peaches.) I had some grape tomatoes lying around waiting to be used, and needed something fresh and salad-oriented to serve with dinner. I halved the grape tomatoes, peeled and diced an equal amount of fresh peaches, and chopped a few small basil leaves, then mixed everything together with a little salt. I had suspected the combination might be good, but was unprepared for just how good. I gingerly took my first taste, then started to laugh with glee like a mad scientist. I felt as if I had engineered an entirely wonderful, new fruit called peach-tomato-basil. Truly, this combination needs to be shouted from the rooftops – "Hey, everyone! Get your tomatoes, peaches, and basil together right now!" We gobbled it right up, with no leftovers.

I googled around on this, and did find a few people who had come up with this combination. (It's true, there is nothing new under the sun, but I'm still proud of myself.) But they all gussied it up with olive oil and/or lemon juice and/or red onions. Some didn't use basil, and just went with tomato-peach. You could do that, but honestly the basil is what makes it. You don't want to use a lot, just a few leaves, so there is merely the hint of basil. You could add the olive oil/lemon juice/red onions too, but if you have really good peaches, and really good tomatoes, I don't see why you should. I couldn't think of anything that would have made ours any better. Just make sure not to forget the salt. It really helps to get the juices flowing together.

(Of course, right after I wrote that, I thought of one more thing that would be good with tomato-peach. Chaat masala. But I haven't tried it yet, so only offer it as a suggestion. If you follow the link, the chaat masala portion starts at paragraph 3. Don't be deceived by the picture of oatmeal.)