For Tomatoes That Keep On Coming

Get your sharpest knives ready, because the local tomato crop, at first just a trickle, is becoming a flood. Small tomatoes, big tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, yellow tomatoes -- all sorts of tomatoes, so many that coping may pose a problem. Call it a delicious dilemma.

Here are 10 quick ideas for producing summer on a plate, fast ways to make the most of vine-ripened tomatoes. But first, a few simple guidelines.

· Never refrigerate a tomato. Refrigeration kills the flavor it has taken the whole summer to develop. Leave those tomatoes on the counter, stem side up and out of direct sunlight.

· Give them time to ripen. How will you know when they're ready? Color is the least reliable indicator; the tomato may be fully ripe but not fully red. Put more trust in the feel -- it will just be starting to soften; and the smell -- it will smell like . . . a tomato.

· A thin-bladed serrated knife is the cutting tool of choice.

· To seed or not to seed? As a rule of thumb, a sliced tomato does not need to be seeded, but a diced tomato does.

Recipes follow, but consider these simpler ideas:

1. Saute or broil thick slices of tomato and serve topped with a poached, fried or scrambled egg. A dash of hot sauce couldn't hurt.

2. Or, turn the same idea into lunch. Make a sandwich with two slices of whole-grain bread, a little mayonnaise, sliced hard-cooked egg and tomato. Don't forget the salt and pepper.

3. Create a fantastic tomato salad. On a platter, layer thin slices of tomatoes. Spoon on your favorite vinaigrette, either homemade or from the bottle. Give the tomatoes 10 or 15 minutes to soak up the dressing.

4. Don't ignore the obvious: the tomato and mozzarella cheese combo. On a platter, alternate layers of tomato slices and fresh mozzarella slices, drizzling on balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil. Add a generous helping of freshly ground pepper and thinly sliced basil leaves. Serve and watch it disappear.

5. Or try a twist on guacamole. Cut a few tomatoes into bite-size or smaller chunks; do the same with an avocado or two. Dice a small sweet onion. Combine, then add lime juice, olive oil, a bit of sugar, salt, pepper and cumin. Toss and serve.

6. Make a side dish or great lunch with some quick-cooking couscous. Prepare according to package directions, then mix with sliced scallions, diced tomato and drained canned chickpeas. Add some olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and it's done.

7. Consider this for tonight's vegetable. Oil a shallow baking dish. Cover the bottom of the dish with alternating slices of zucchini and tomato. Brush generously with olive oil mixed with dried oregano and basil. Add salt and freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Bake in a 400-degree oven until cooked through.

8. Facing a bowl full of tomatoes dangerously on the edge of becoming overripe? Roast them in a slow oven with oil, salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl and cover with oil. They'll keep for up to a week; warm when hungry.

9. Make your everyday vinaigrette taste great by adding some chopped tomatoes.

10. In the end, don't forget that sometimes the simplest preparation is the best. Take a vine-ripened tomato, slice it in half, sprinkle with salt and take a bite.

Stephanie Witt Sedgwick, a former Food section recipe editor, is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. She can be reached at food@washpost.com.