It's Time For A Cherry Tomato Fiesta — 11 Great Recipes

Now is the time to indulge in the best cherry tomatoes — supermarkets will have impatient consumers believe they're available all year-round, but farmers' markets tell another story, of course. And if you've ever been tempted to pick up a pint in the middle of January and taken a bite, it was probably a big disappointment. So now that the season is in full swing, it's time to indulge a bit, and enjoy while it lasts.

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Cherry tomatoes are sometimes confused with grape tomatoes, which is understandable because they are usually interchangeable in recipes. But cherry tomatoes come in a medley of colors — bright red, sun-gold orange, sunny yellow, and yes, green. And now you can also find heirloom cherry tomatoes as well, which sometimes come in blends of the different colors. Cherry tomatoes have a delicate skin and must be handled gently; the best ones burst in your mouth in a flood of sweet juice. On the other hand, grape tomatoes have thicker skin and only come in one color, at least that we've seen: red.

This week's recipes are fairly simple — after all, if you're starting with excellent ingredients, there's no need to really do much to them. Here are some highlights:

All of the recipes featured here can be made at home for about $25 or less, excluding the cost of small amounts of basic ingredients such as butter, oil, flour, sugar, salt, pepper, and other dried herbs and spices.

Will Budiaman is the Recipe editor at The Daily Meal. Follow him on Twitter @WillBudiaman.