Good Dish, Bad Breath

Break out the Certs, the Tic-Tacs, the gum. Have a jigger of Scope on hand. You might not want a toothbrush---you might want a Brillo pad.

It's not going to be pretty, and you won't make any friends who may wander within 10 feet of you, but if you like onions and tomatoes, then you'll love tomatoes and onions.

There are so many culinary gems that I didn't know I was missing out on until I met and married my Italian and Polish wife.

One of them is in season right now, and will continue to be, all summer.

It's the aforementioned tomatoes and onions.

It's so simple, so as plain as the nose on your face, yet it somehow eluded me all those years, until I hitched myself to Mrs. Eno in 1992.

I like tomatoes. I adore onions. Yet I never thought to combine them so brazenly, so harshly.

Sharon, my lovely wife, gets to slicing onions in those half moon shapes, chops up some tomatoes, then washes her hands, because the rest of the prep is done with hands only.

You dump the onions and tomatoes into a bowl. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Then start adding olive oil, about one teaspoon at a time.

With your hands, get in there and start squishing.

You heard me. Squish and squeeze and mix and tumble---all with your hands. Add more olive oil if things aren't slimey enough in the bowl. Add more salt and pepper, if you so desire.

Keep squishing and squeezing until you have something the consistency of coarse salsa.

Then chill for about an hour.

You won't win any popularity contests because of your rancid breath, but your taste buds will think you're the cat's meow.

So simple, as I said, but oh, is it good!

The key is to use very ripe tomatoes that are in season. Not those orangey things some restaurants pass off as tomatoes in winter time. The riper the tomato, the juicier it is, which is paramount here, because the tomato juices mixed with the olive oil provides the perfect dressing.

It's a great complement to any summer meal, but especially works with burgers, hot dogs, or even grilled chicken.

The longer the concoction stays in the bowl, chilling, the better it tastes. The next day is even better.

Tomatoes and onions. That's what we call it.

Because that's what it is.

That, and delicious.