I never liked tomatoes much. A strange thing to say given I love all the things a tomato dances in.
Ketchup, pizza sauce, salsa, spaghetti sauce, bbq sauces… you name it, it’s in my fridge, and I am a participant.
I just never saw much appeal in the tomato itself. That’s heresy for Georgia boy.
In fact, I think it’s fair to say that outside of fried chicken, the tomato is the #1 worshipped vegetable in the south. (Let’s not quibble details of that fact.).
I didn’t like tomatoes.
Certainly, I’d gladly accept your offer of a BLT, but honestly, it was about the B. You might as well have offered me a bacon sandwich. Or a mayonnaise sandwich. That’s the good stuff.
Yet somehow, in my 68th year of eating, I have suddenly developed a fondness for tomato on my sandwich.
Let me pause here to preach. Never ever quit re-trying things you think you don’t like. Your tastes are ever evolving. Yesterday’s crap is tonight’s dinner.
I don’t know why this tomato thing happened, but I suspect it’s been the creative ways my wife has presented lunch to me.
Her BLT made with bacon and pimento cheese is killer! And we hit a stretch when we had them for days in a row. Oh, and on sourdough bread. Maybe that’s what got me going.
Then I wandered out on my own. Fried bologna worked out well as a bacon substitute.
Ready to be cut in half and folded into culinary joy.
So if we can pause just long enough to dissect what’s happening here with the bacon and bologna and pimento cheese - or even smoked gouda instead of pimento, can we thoughtfully sort through the possibility this ain’t about the tomato?
An argument can be made, sure. But I want the tomato.
In just putting this admission on paper, I believe I’ve stumbled across my truth.
It goes thusly:
Slather the bread with mayo, add pimento cheese, bring on the bacon or fried bologna, top it with another cheese slice of your choice… it’s a heart attack sandwich.
But…
Tomato is good for you. It’s a neutralizer. It’s the yin to the yang. In the universal balancing act of good vs. evil in food-dom, tomato tips the scale into good for you territory.
Bottom line, I am a health nut.
This one features Swiss cheese and Benton bacon on tomato bread. And vegetation.