A salad of garden vegetables, and those deyhydrated tomatos

Yesterday's lunch included the salad you see on the right. It's made with fresh tomatoes, steamed green beans, and grilled zucchini. All the vegetables grew in our vegetable garden. I added in some mozzarella (feta would be good too). The dressing was olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a few drops of red wine vinegar for acidity, a teaspoonful of Dijon mustard, and some fresh basil leaves.

We are having extremely hot weather again. Forecasts are for temperatures between 30º and 40ºC (basically 88 to 98 F) from today until Friday, when we can expect a drastic cool-down. The heat is really making tomatoes ripen fast on the vines in the back yard garden. Over the past few days, big yellow tomatoes have started coming in. They're of the ananas variety — "pineapple" tomatoes.

This was the view from a rear window, looking out into the Renaudière vineyard, at 7:09 a.m. yesterday.

Here's how my dehydrated tomatoes came out. I sterilized the jars and lids in a steamer. I let them dry, filled each one with dehydrated tomato wedges and slices, and then set them in the oven at 120ºC (about 250º/F) long enough for the lids to start popping. That means they are hermetically sealed.

The lids on three of the jars popped pretty soon after I put them in the oven. Those are the brightest red tomatoes. Two more jars, including the one with a green lid, didn't cooperate. I had to take those two out to try to tighten the lids on them. It worked. They finally popped (it's a loud click), but the tomatoes got slightly scorched. I hope they'll still taste good. I'll add them to soups and stews.

Click this link if you want to read more about drying tomatoes in the oven or a dehydrator.