Ten-Minute Lunch

My lunch today: Tomatoes à la Provençale from French Cooking in Ten Minutes.
(Think you see a diet coke? You're hallucinating.)

Several tomatoes in my refrigerator were begging to be used up. Yes, I know, they shouldn't be in the refrigerator, but they were too ripe to leave at room temperature ... so I followed another ten-minute recipe from Pomiane's French Cooking in Ten Minutes. The tomatoes were so small they didn't even need to cook quite as long as he suggested; I think maybe the whole endeavor did take around 10 minutes.

In fact, I have made tomatoes this way many times. I first learned the recipe from my friend Michelle, who has lived in Paris most of her life, but who cooks Provencal style. I've even enjoyed this dish in the stunning kitchen of her summer home in Provence. No question, it's a fabulous way to eat tomatoes!

The tomatoes and herbs came from the Santa Barbara farmers' market.
Above left: the herb seller.
Above right: three images of what I bought Tuesday and how I prepared my lunch.

The 10-minute recipe (which clearly
requires around 15 minutes as written).