Monday, September 1, 2008

The Mortgage Lifter

As you may recall, I posted on my blog about my Urban Rooftop Vegetable Garden. Well I am here to brag. Will you look at the size of this tomato? Just to give you an idea of the size, that baby is sitting on a dinner plate! The garden was a huge success, I will definitely be doing this again next year with the addition of more veggies. I made a simple salad with the mater as the star of the show. The taste of these homegrown maters is outstanding!

Isn't she purty ?



Tomato Pasta Salad

1 1/2 to 2 pound mortgage lifter tomato, cut in pieces
(I don't own a scale, so this is a guesstimate:)
1/2 pound cooked whole wheat penne pasta
8 oz. Mozarella cheese, cut in pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice + grated zest of lemon
Salt & Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Fresh Parsley (also from my garden)


Blend olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and zest. Season with salt and pepper. Add to a bowl with tomatoes and cheese, set aside. Cook pasta, drain and toss with tomato mixture. Garnish with parsley.

Mortgage Lifter Tomato

The legend of this tomato is that it was developed by M. C. Byles of Logan, West Virginia. For six years he crossed German Johnson, Beefsteak, English and Italian varieties, selecting the largest specimens. It is said that he then sold plants for $1.00 each and paid off his mortgage in six years.

27 comments:

Theresa said...

What a fine piece of produce from your urban garden. What do you feed them!!! :)

PGL said...

Monster tomato! The salad you made looks pretty good too. ;)

Beth said...

that is big. Pasta salad looks great. I must grow more in my garden next year!!

Lucy said...

WOW!!! That's one "Big Tomato" and one great looking pasta salad... YUMMY!!

Darius T. Williams said...

Oh wow - so yea, that picture is great. Talk about inspiration.

-DTW
www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com

Darius T. Williams said...

Oh wow - so yea, that picture is great. Talk about inspiration.

-DTW
www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com

OhioMom said...

Thank you, thank you everyone... LOL ... this was the biggest one (and the one that first appeared) I just grew them in an organic potting mix, half way thru the season my DD sprinkled a little organic food around each plant ... other than that they got love, sun and water :)

Growing my own veggies was so much fun ... just wait till next year!

Usha said...

Wow what a gigantic tomato...the pasta salad looks delicious..it must have been great fun to use your own produce in the pasta :)

Poonam said...

thats a gaint tomatoe! pasta looks delicious!

Grace said...

i can state with certainty that there ain't no better mater than a homegrown mater. :) oh, and i'm loving the name of this monster.

lifeinrecipes said...

That massive beauty is surely something to be proud of.

shambo said...

WOW! Now that's what I call a tomato! Congratulations on your harvest. Oh, and the salad looks delicious too.

OhioMom said...

Thanks one and all ... yep this baby was the star of the summer harvest, the others never reached her size, but they were still nice size slicers ... homegrown is the bestest!

Jenny said...

What a beautiful pasta salad. I love tomatoes, they look perfect in this pasta!

Carla said...

Now why can't my garden produce tomatoes like that? I bet it was delicious!

OhioMom said...

Thanks Jenny :)

Carla ... it was so much better than those shiny, perfect bland tomatoes that have been forced down our throats ... container growing has the advantage of not having to worry about pests and weeds also.

Tasty Trends said...

beautiful pasta salad!!!

maybelle's mom said...

Superbe tomato.

OhioMom said...

Thanks TT & Maybelle's Mom :)

bee said...

lol @ mortgage lifter. that is one stunning tomato. must have been tres delicious too.

OhioMom said...

Thanks Bee :)

giz said...

It's such a prize winner of a tomato, don't you feel so guilty cutting it up? I would be starting making prints to hang these successes in my kitchen.

Well done.

OhioMom said...

Thanks Giz :)

These tomatoes are so good I have been eating them like apples ... and they are very meaty.

Kevin said...

That pasta salad looks good and it must be even better with home grown tomatoes.

OhioMom said...

Thanks Kevin :)

I am rooting some tomatoes for indoor growing, crossing my fingers for a few tastes of summer.

Proud Italian Cook said...

Wow, What a beauty! The taste must have been phenomenal!!

OhioMom said...

Thanks Marie :)