Tomatoes Make a Delicious Summer Picnic
I Found Ohio’s State Fruit at Local Farmers’ Markets
I featured Ohio tomatoes on my menu for a picnic at Beartown
Lakes Reservation in Geauga County on July 27.
By Anna Krejci
I picnicked this summer at Beartown Lakes Reservation, part of the Geauga Park District. My husband, Corey, and I decided to eat beside the lake. Butterflies fluttered by and the sunlight sparkled on the water. I laid a blanket on the grass underneath the shade of a tree. We were ready to enjoy a tomato-themed vegetarian meal.
We adventured through the markets, and we found
lovely-looking produce. Vendors sold corn on the cob, blueberries, onion and
zucchini heaped on tabletops in bins or baskets – among other items. At both markets, we easily found ripe, red,
round tomatoes, but we also depended on the grocery store to provide most of
what we needed. I found a recipe called “Cucumber-Avocado-Tomato Sandwich” on
the website eatingwell.com. This
sandwich was packed with veggies and enhanced with a hummus, honey mustard and
dill spread. The ingredient that I had
eaten the least before now, but that I really enjoyed on this sandwich, was the
alfalfa sprouts. The fresh ingredients
on the sandwich and especially the use of fresh dill made it a pleasure to eat.
The “Cucumber-Avocado-Tomato Sandwich” is pictured above
before I packed it for our picnic.
We also made a caprese salad. Tomato, basil leaves, and mozzarella chunks
made a wonderful side. We like to serve
it with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
We enjoyed iced tea to drink, and for a special treat, we ate chocolate
chip cookies. In the past, I thought
eating cookies was a reward for eating all my necessary vegetables; I soon
realized that eating my fruits and vegetables was the real prize on this outing.
The lake provided a setting for our picnic.
We brought with us an antique picnic basket – I found it
years ago one July at the Ox Roast Antique and Flea Market in Mesopotamia, Ohio,
but I digress. Concerning our recent
excursion, the atmosphere at Beartown Lakes Reservation in Auburn and
Bainbridge townships pleased us a lot.
Some people nearby dropped fishing lines from the lakeshore. Others exercised on the trail. There was plenty to explore there. Our
tomato-themed, vegetarian picnic provided a light feeling after eating and left
me with no more cravings. Making our meal at home and transporting it to the
park was the main activity of our afternoon.
We were fortunate to have good picnic weather. I look forward to more opportunities to eat
outdoors this season.
Tomatoes Take Many
Forms
Tomatoes aren’t just good raw on sandwiches. They are in many other foods, and I did not
always realize it. Tomatoes are in
ketchup. As a schoolgirl, I enjoyed
ketchup on my french fries and cheeseburgers; I had not developed an
appreciation for fresh tomatoes like I have now. For a long time, I did not realize that ketchup
is an ingredient of Thousand Island dressing, which I love to drizzle on my
lettuce salads. And Mystery Cake, which I
have not tried, is made in part with a can of tomato soup. Surprising little facts are these.
Resource
Vazquez, Giovanna. “Cucumber-Avocado-Tomato Sandwich.”
Eating Well, 25 Feb. 2025, https://www.eatingwell.com/cucumber-avocado-tomato-sandwich-8787208 .
Additional
Resource
I found recipes for ketchup, Mystery Cake and Thousand
Island dressing in the following book.
Rombauer, Irma S., Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker,
John Becker and Megan Scott. Joy of Cooking. Scribner, 2019, New York.
Beartown Lakes
Reservation
For information on Beartown Lakes Reservation in Auburn and
Bainbridge townships, click on the link to the Geauga Park District website
below.
https://geaugaparkdistrict.org/park/beartown-lakes-reservation/
