Lemon Boy: Thumbs Way Up

This year, for the first time, I decided to try a different kind of tomato: Lemon Boy. The bush is huge and started off with loads of fruit, but the birds ate most of them. Luckily I saved one while it was still green (and unpecked), and ripened it on a sunny outside windowsill.

For the last few days the temperatures have been in the mid and high 80F.

Lemon Boy

With the toasty temps outside, I decided to cool down with a nice crisp backyard salad, and I wanted an excuse to eat the only ripe Lemon Boy that I have - and maybe will ever have.

Marglobe Tomato, Banana Pepper, Salad Leaves

I meandered around the garden picking oakleaf, endive, and prizeleaf lettuce, some arugula, I snipped some garlic chives, added a banana pepper and a variety of bell called yummy. To this I added a fresh chopped Marglobe tomato, the Lemon Boy, a few nasturtium leaves for their peppery taste, and the flower itself. I topped my salad off with a few items from the fridge; a strawberry, raw mushrooms, cucumber, topped off with a large sprinkle of sunflower seeds and an even larger drizzle of homemade balsamic vinegar.

 

It was delicious and filing. The combo of crisp, tangy peppers and peppery nasturtium and arugula, buttery lettuces and the sweetness of a ripe, home grown tomato, shone through the balsamic dressing. To me, the Lemon Boy tastes somewhere between a sweet red grape and a tomato. It's a different taste and, I think, quite unique.

Bon Appetit - to me!

Please forgive my modest plates. With two teenage boys I have gone through several sets already. 'Butter fingers' is the phrase that comes to mind :)

And yes, I did eat the flower: honest I did.