Vine-ripened tomatoes are making their much-anticipated appearance at local farmers markets, ushering in what many consider the best summer food.

If you’re like me, you can eat tomatoes all day, every day, and never get tired of them. Delicious out of hand, the juicy culinary fruit that cooks treat as a vegetable adds flavor to everything from salads and sauces to egg and pasta dishes.

One of my favorite hot weather eats in July and August is a humble tomato sandwich made with soft white bread, lots of mayo and a sprinkle of sea salt. I also love to combine chopped tomatoes with garlic, olive oil, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and thin ribbons of basil so I can spoon it onto pan-fried bread for bruschetta. Add a generous dusting of grated Parmesan and I could easily devour a whole pan in minutes.

The fact tomatoes are incredibly nutritious only adds to their magic. They’re naturally low in calories because they’re made up of about 95% water, and boast a meaningful amount of vitamin C plus lycopene, a plant compound prized for its antioxidant properties.

Below we dish up two recipes in which tomatoes take center stage. The first is a crunchy, deconstructed take on a tomato sandwich. Made with just a handful of pantry ingredients, tomato cracker salad is a summer classic in the South.

The second is an Italian dish from a forthcoming cookbook featuring authentic recipes from Rome.

When choosing tomatoes at the market, remember that large fruit should feel heavy for its size, feel firm in your hand (but not too hard) and smell slightly floral. Avoid tomatoes with bruises or cracks that are too big to trim away.

Tomato Cracker Salad

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Some takes on tomato cracker salad call for dicing the tomatoes and combining them with mayonnaise and crackers for one homogenous bite. This old-school recipe from Southern Living builds a salad with sliced tomatoes on top of seasoned mayo. However you make it, it’s essential to eat the salad right away, while the crackers are still crunchy. Raw sweet corn adds a crisp and juicy finish.

12 saltine crackers

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon garlic salt, divided

1½ cups mayonnaise, preferably Duke’s

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2½ pounds heirloom or other peak summer tomatoes (assorted sizes and colors), sliced

Black pepper

¾ cup fresh corn kernels (1 ear)

2 tablespoons small fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and place crackers in a single layer on the sheet.

Brush tops of crackers liberally with melted butter and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of garlic salt. Bake until golden brown and fragrant, 8-10 minutes. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir together mayonnaise, chives, apple cider vinegar, and remaining ½ teaspoon garlic salt in a small bowl.

Spread mayonnaise mixture evenly on a large platter. Arrange tomato slices on top of mayonnaise mixture, overlapping slightly.

Season tomatoes with pepper to taste and sprinkle with corn. Coarsely crush crackers over salad; sprinkle with basil.

Serves 4-6.

— southernliving.com

Pomodori con il Riso

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You need to turn on the oven for this dish from a forthcoming book, “Rome: Classic Recipes from the Eternal City” by Lucia Tersigni and Audrey Cosson (Michael Beazley, $33). But the upside is the finished dish doesn’t have to be eaten hot; it’s just as tasty cold, making it the perfect dish for a quick summer lunch.

Pomodori con il riso is usually made with risotto-style rice that is par-cooked in the tomato pulp just long enough to get rid of its raw, hard bite, but this version made with basmati opts for simply soaking the rice in the pulp for about an hour in the fridge to soften it. I added a generous dusting of Parmesan before serving.

For a more substantial meal, add a few chopped potatoes that have been tossed in oil and chopped fresh rosemary to the pan. Just make sure it’s a small dice so they cook at the same rate as the tomatoes. The recipe can easily be halved for smaller appetites.

12 ripe tomatoes

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

1 garlic clove, roughly chopped

Leaves from 1 small bunch of basil

Pinch of dried oregano or 1 fresh oregano sprig

12 tablespoons long-grain or basmati rice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking dish with parchment that has been dampened and any excess water shaken off. (I put the tomatoes directly into the pan.)

Wash and dry tomatoes. Slice off the top ⅓ of the tomato and set aside the caps. Scoop out the flesh inside with a spoon, making sure not to split the skins.

Put the pulp in a sieve to drain off the juice, then place the pulp (without juice) in a food processor with 2 tablespoons oil. (I picked out most of the seeds.)

Add garlic, basil and oregano and season liberally with salt and pepper. Blend until smooth, then remove to a bowl.

Add rice to the tomato puree and mix well. Refrigerate for around 1 hour, to allow the rice to soak up the flavor. (Don’t skip this step or the rice will be hard and separate from the pulp.)

Once the rice filling is ready, stuff the tomatoes with the mixture. Replace the tops of the tomatoes and arrange in the pan.

Drizzle the tomatoes with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then cover with foil.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes, or until tomatoes are tender and jammy.

Allow to cool slightly and serve with grated Parmesan cheese on top.

Serves 6.

— adapted from “Rome: Classic Recipes from the Eternal City”

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