The French, who know a thing or two about food, called tomatoes pommes d'amour, or "love apples." We understand their wistfulness.

Every year, we rekindle a love affair with tomatoes -- not just any old tomatoes and certainly not the anemic-looking mealy-tasting ones we often see in the grocery store. The tomatoes we desire are the big, juicy, imperfectly shaped, sometimes red, sometimes green, sometimes cracked ones fresh from the vine or farmers' market. No others will do -- especially in these recipes.