Tomatoes/26 recipes

Homemade sun-dried tomatoes oven-dried at low heat for 16-18 hours, then packed in olive oil with rock salt and optional rosemary or dried chilies. A pantry staple that keeps indefinitely.

Open-faced pizza sandwiches made with a seasoned beef freezer mix, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, and bubbly melted cheese on bread or hamburger buns. Ready in under 20 minutes from freezer to table.

Steamed mussels in a curried white wine broth with tomato, garlic, fresh dill, and a splash of cream. A 20-minute French-Indian seafood starter served bowl-style with crusty bread for dipping.

Quick 20-minute red beans and rice with canned kidney beans, crushed tomatoes, and Cajun seasoning. Sauté onions, celery, and red peppers, simmer with spices, and spoon over brown rice for easy weeknight comfort.

Hot seasoned ground turkey and corn tossed with salsa, piled over crisp shredded lettuce with tomato, red onion, lime wedges, and sour cream. A Southwestern taco salad without the shell, ready in 20 minutes.

Baked Idaho potatoes loaded with a tuna nicoise salad of green beans, tomato, cucumber, and red pepper in a red wine vinaigrette, topped with diced egg and anchovies. A no-cook 20-minute meal.

Seven-ingredient vegetarian chili built on a can of refried beans, tomato sauce, and basic pantry spices. Comes together in 20 minutes flat. The college-dorm chili that scales to a real weeknight bowl.

Chilled tomato salsa over hot angel hair pasta with red and yellow peppers, basil, garlic, and a hit of romano. Italian summer technique that needs zero cooking for the sauce. Ready in 20 minutes.

No-cook tuna rice salad tossed in a tangy sweet-and-sour vinegar dressing with fresh tomatoes, red onion, celery, scallions, and green peas. Low-fat, filling, and ready in 20 minutes from pantry staples.

Grilled tuna steaks brushed with Caesar dressing, nestled on toasted whole-grain onion buns with crisp lettuce and fresh tomato. This 20-minute high-protein sandwich is summer grilling at its simplest and most satisfying.

All-American hot dish brings ground beef freezer mix, corn, tomato sauce, olives, and noodles together in one skillet, finished with melted cheddar. A pantry-friendly weeknight dinner that cooks itself in about 20 minutes.

Insalata pizzas with garlic-mozzarella pita bases topped with dressed greens, grape tomatoes, kalamata olives, and fresh basil. A 20-minute hot-meets-cold vegetarian dinner that eats like pizza and salad in one bite.

Chicken dinner salad with pan-seared chicken over cucumber ribbons, juicy tomatoes, olives, and feta, dressed in a quick homemade vinaigrette. A light, fresh Greek-style salad that eats like a meal in 20 minutes.

Texas chile con queso, two ingredients only: a block of Velveeta and a can of Rotel tomatoes with green chiles. Melt, stir, dip. The Tex-Mex queso every Texan grew up on, ready in 20 minutes.

Chopped cooked turkey simmered in a thick tomato-chili sauce with dry mustard and onion, spooned over hamburger buns. This low-calorie, 6-ingredient turkey barbecue is ready in 20 minutes and stretches leftovers into a new meal.

Rotel dip melts a pound of processed cheese with Rotel tomatoes, canned chili, and browned sausage into the ultimate game-day queso. Four ingredients, one pot, ready in 20 minutes and scoopable with corn chips until the bowl is empty.