One Last Recipe for 2025.

With the greenhouse running ahead of schedule this year, we’ve suddenly found ourselves with tomatoes ripening faster than we can eat them. A lovely problem to have.

So tonight, with our tea, I threw together a tomato salad — one of those quick, simple dishes that somehow always feels like more than the sum of its parts. It’s the kind of salad everyone seems to love, mostly because it doesn’t try too hard. You just use what you’ve got, toss it together, and enjoy the freshness.

Quick Tomato Salad.

Ingredients.

Tomatoes, as many as you need. Any variety, mixed colours looks great. 

Onion, any kind.

Garlic, cloves or salt or crushed or.....  Garlic.

Salt and pepper.

Oil, olive, sunflower, extra virgin.... 

Herbs. Basil, parsley, dried mixed, Italian. Whatever you have.

Method. 

Dice your tomatoes — you can scoop out the seeds and watery bits if you’re that way inclined, but honestly, life’s too short. Into the bowl they go.

Next comes the onion. Any onion. Truly. Today I used a red one (well… purple, but apparently we’re all pretending they’re red). White, brown, Spanish, spring — whatever’s lurking in the pantry will do. Dice it finely and toss it in.

Then garlic. Again, whatever form you’ve got is perfectly acceptable. My home‑grown garlic isn’t ready yet, so I reached for the jar of garlic granules. Fresh or packaged, just about a clove’s worth — crushed, sprinkled, or shaken — in it goes.

Same with the herbs. I used fresh parsley and basil today, but dried herbs work just as well. No fuss. No ceremony. Just throw them in once you have them finely chopped.

Now for the oil: a splash or three. I like olive oil — extra virgin if I’m feeling fancy — but use whatever you have. For five or six good‑sized tomatoes, I add about two tablespoons. 

A grind of salt, a crack of pepper, and give it all a good stir.

It’s best if you let it sit for an hour or two. Don’t put it in the fridge — it sulks in there. I just cover the bowl and pop it in the pantry. Stir again before serving.

Leftovers will keep for a day, but no more. And no, I still don’t put them in the fridge. Just cover the bowl and back into the pantry it goes. Though I rarely have leftovers of this salad.

And that’s it — one last little kitchen moment to round out 2025. Nothing fancy, nothing complicated, just a bowl of tomatoes doing their best. If only all year‑end tasks were this easy.

So that’s me done for the year — finishing on a tomato salad and a smile. Wishing you all a Happy New Year, a joyful Hari Hou, and a cosy Bleïn Vie Noa. May 2026 bring full plates, warm days, and the only pleasant surprises.

Hari Hou (Māori: “Happy New Year”)

Bleïn Vie Noa (Manx Gaelic: “Good New Year”)