I’m constantly eating out for my job as food editor, but this weekend’s stroll through the U District Farmers Market had me buying a whole salmon to grill. But that’s not what I want to tell you about. With tomatoes not yet in season, it was a stroke of luck that brought me to a stand selling a few different varieties of heirloom tomatoes. There were only a few left, but I knew the one I wanted the moment I saw its homely, knobby, “Is this a growing experiment gone awry?” beauty—deep red, with some purple in it that gave it that slightly muddied quality heirlooms so often have and a green stripe or two running down its skin. The day called for rain, but the sun was still out and the tomato made me hungry for summer.

I bought it, then went over to the Samish Bay Cheese folks and got some organic mozzarella swimming in its juices. Back home I’d just planted basil (as well as a slew of other herbs), and I picked the bright green leaves and chopped them roughly. When I cut into that tomato, it was everything I’d hoped: juicy and full of flavor. An ugly prince of tomatoes, but a prince nonetheless. I sliced it, topped it with chunks of the mozzarella, the shredded basil and some sea salt and then drizzled it all with olive oil. Sure, it’s just a Caprese salad, but with ingredients like these, its splendor can’t be overestimated. Oh, and the salmon was good too. E

nsprinkle@seattleweekly.com