last of the ripe tomatoes

There are only 6 vine-ripened,tomatoes left~ so I've decided to make Orzo Pesto pasta salad with them - with some Swiss Chard thrown in for good measure. (I'm throwing Swiss Chard into everything these days - even smoothies). This salad is inspired by Sooke Harbour House's salad that was brought to a recent Slow Food event. Their salad was topped with gorgeous heirloom variety tomatoes of all shapes and colours, fresh sprigs of oregano, thyme and basil - and it was amazing. This is when those frozen cubes of basil pesto come in handy - I take them out about an hour or so before I need them, and stir them into the pasta while it is still hot. This combo of pasta with pesto, tomatoes and chard is wonderful - especially with a few shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano for the top. Here is another recipe to use chard that I found today on the Moss Street Market site (in the recipes section! who knew?)http://www.mossstreetmarket.com/recipes.htm TUNISIAN STYLE CHARD 2 lbs swiss chard, chopped roughly 5 large cloves garlic, pressed 1 tbsp. tomato paste 1 tsp. ground coriander ½ tsp. salt ¼ tsp. dried red chili flakes 2 tbsp. olive oil 1 cup minced onion 2-14 oz. cans garbanzo beans, with liquid lemon wedges (optional) Steam chard until tender. In bowl, combine garlic, tomato paste, coriander, salt, and chili flakes. Heat oil in a saucepan, and sauté onion. Add the tomato paste mixture. Add chard and garbanzo beans, with liquid. Stir and cook until heated through, about 10 minutes. Makes 8 servings. I am going to make this tomorrow with my own fresh coriander seeds and Thai Dragon chilies.