Learning to Love Foods I Hate

As a self-proclaimed foodie, I feel an obligation to like everything.  A foodie can't be picky, right?  But sadly, there are some foods I just can't stand.  Olive, pickles, and really strong blue cheeses top the lists of foods that I keep trying and keep hating.  And then there are those foods - mainly veggies - that I am convinced I don't like, even though I haven't tried them in years.  Hence this weeks project: learning to like (or at least tolerate) a food that has made me cringe since I was a kid: tomatoes.

Project Tomato: Heirloom Tomato and Spinach Salad

I'm pretty sure my mom doesn't like tomatoes, and that's why I think raw tomatoes are icky.  I have no problem with tomato sauce or ketchup, and I think slow-roasted tomatoes are one of God's little gifts to men. But raw tomatoes give me the willies.  Or big chunks of tomatoes in a sauce.  I've been working on this one for years, and I'm pretty much over my fear of the big red fruit.  Most of the time I just close my eyes and pop one of those grape tomatoes in my mouth, trying not to think about it.

Like most of my attempts to broaden my culinary expertise, learning to like tomatoes started in San Francisco.  In the epic Saturday Ferry Building Farmers Market, to be exact.  As an AmeriCorps volunteer, my weekly grocery budget was about $15, so I rarely actually shopped at the market.  The atmosphere at the Ferry Building, though, is almost intoxicating, especially on a sunny day.  Over 10,000 visit the market every week, and you can get lost in the stalls, the smells, and the tastes that permeate the Ferry Building's back lot...

...But I digress.  One Saturday, while gawking at the produce I couldn't afford, I saw a near-empty crate of heirloom tomatoes.  They were things of beauty.  Gnarled and brightly colored, I couldn't take my eyes off of them. I said to myself, I can do this, picked up the one the looked tastiest to me (which the very kind vendor gave me for free), and I was off.

In true midwestern fashion (and modelling a technique my mother used to use to get us to eat our veggies), I bought of a hunk of cheese to help me get through eating my heirloom.  Every since those first few bites of tomato, mozzarella, and a sprinkling of salt, I've been hooked.  

Spring has been teasing us in Pittsburgh for the past few weeks, with the sun creeping out every few days and then my delicate spirits are crushed with a streak of rainfalls.  I even bought a few bottles of white wine (another summer project I have is to learn the difference between oaked and unoaked Chardonnays) in hopes that the warm weather would stay.  So, in celebration of one of the recent sunny days, I bought some overpriced heirlooms and spinach, and made myself a salad.

Tomato spinach salad is so easy, I can't even pretend to write a recipe for it.  Here's what you need:  a tomato, baby spinach from a bag, mozzarella, red onion (optional), salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil.

Throw the spinach into a bowl.  Slice the tomato and mozzarella into similarly-sized bits.  Thinly slice the onion (so the flavor doesn't overwhelm the salad). Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle with a touch of balsamic and olive oil.

The texture of tomatoes still make me squirm a little, especially in big chucks like this salad.  But the creamy mozzarella and acid from the balsamic are a nice balance to the texture and sweetness of the heirlooms.  A super simple mid-day meal, and it'll just get better as fresh tomato season gets into swing.

Peas are also on my list of foods I'm learning to tolerate.  As the farmers markets get underway and those green devils surround me, maybe another project will emerge...