This Tomato

By Antara Sinha

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It’s never been easier (or tastier) to cook vegan, even if you’re not doing it full-time. In Part-Time Plant-Based, associate cooking editor Antara Sinha brings you bright ideas from veggie-forward cookbooks.

When I say tomato juice, maybe you picture a can—the kind you crack on a long flight to pour over ice in a flimsy plastic cup, or the health-fad-era type that claimed to provide a whole day’s serving of vegetables in one beverage. Or maybe a Bloody Mary, briny and savory.

This recipe is none of those things.

Take cues from chef Steven Satterfield and skip the canned stuff—which can make perfectly fine, and even delicious, drinks when it's called for—and turn instead to fresh tomatoes. In this recipe for Heirloom Tomato and Peach Juice from his new cookbook, Vegetable Revelations, Satterfield pairs the peak-season fruits for a refreshing, vibrant drink that will change the way you think of tomato juice.

“Heirlooms have a light, fruity flavor—and yes, tomatoes can skew savory, but it is a fruit, first and foremost,” says Satterfield. “To combine tomatoes with a stone fruit and celebrate their sweetness instead of their savory side—that’s what I’m really going for.”

And with subtle umami from the naturally occurring MSG in tomatoes, this drink has surprising depth and richness. It’s ideal for those squished tomatoes at the bottom of your tote bag, or that overripe tomato on the counter that’s split at the skin. It’s also great when you’re all tomatoed out and can’t stomach another tomato salad, sandwich, salsa, or caprese (a rare but possible occasion come August).

Married with another high-summer favorite, peaches, plus bracing ginger and tart lemon juice, it’s invigorating and bright—a jolt of sunshine in a glass. “The sum is greater than its parts,” says Satterfield. And I couldn’t agree more.

In a high-speed blender, blitz 2 large, ripe heirloom tomatoes, a knob of peeled ginger, and 2 pitted and halved peaches. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, and then mix the tomato-peach juice with the juice of 1 lemon and a pinch of salt. Serve immediately over ice. This makes enough juice for two people (or one very thirsty person).

If you can’t get your hands on ripe peaches this season, try swapping in ripe nectarines, pluots, or plums.

Adapted with permission from ‘Vegetable Revelations: Inspiration for Produce-Forward Cooking’ by Steven Satterfield, published by Harper Wave.