It’s the peak of tomato season, and that means farmer’s markets and backyard gardens are brimming with those luscious red (and sometimes yellow, orange, pink, green, burgundy, purple, streaked and striped) orbs. Gardeners can sometimes be hard-pressed to stay on top of their crops, despite canning whole tomatoes and making tomato juice and salsa.

I usually don’t have too much trouble keeping up, even though this spring we put in 33 tomato plants that were grown from seed. We usually give some tomatoes away to friends and neighbors and have BLTs two or three times a week, all the while canning a fair share of them. And then there’s just eating the tomatoes fresh.

That brings me to a new recipe that has caught my fancy. Jim Mochoruk, a history professor at the University of North Dakota who hails from Winnipeg, shared the following recipe that he says is one of his favorites. Jim, whose accolades include helping establish the Canadian Studies Program at UND and being named the school’s Outstanding Faculty Scholar in 2011 and then named a “Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor” in 2013, said the recipe is a creation of his wife, Mary Luisa.

He told me that the simplicity of the recipe is part of its charm. I couldn’t agree with him more.

Tomato and Red Onion Salad
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 small red onion, diced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Mix tomatoes and onion and then add olive oil, vinegar and salt. Let sit for 30 minutes. Serve with crusty bread or baguette.
Yield: Serves 2.