Wherever the Tomato Goes,
Think Grapes

They're both juicy, high-acid, high-sugar fruits. So it should come as no surprise that grapes can often stand in for tomatoes. And in fall, when the local vine-ripe tomatoes vanish, grapes can help you keep a popular dish on the menu with the quality your customers expect.

Grapes can go almost anywhere a tomato goes and spark new interest in familiar dishes.

• Add grapes to the house green salad in place of cherry tomatoes. Offer crumbled blue cheese and toasted nuts as optional add-ons to build value.
• Sprinkle halved grapes on a pizza with Fontina cheese and radicchio.
• Top a focaccia with grapes and rosemary. Sprinkle with coarse salt for a savory version, or with sparkling sugar to make a morning version, impressive in a bread basket.
• Replace tomato gazpacho with a green grape and almond gazpacho, a Spanish classic.
• Top bruschetta with ricotta, grapes, and olive oil for a savory hors d'oeuvre... or with ricotta, grapes, and honey for brunch.
• Make a warm spinach salad with grapes, red onions, and bacon
• Prepare grilled chicken kebabs with skewered grapes in place of tomatoes and baste the kebabs with a rosemary "brush"
• Make a grape and tomatilla salsa for grilled pork or fish
• Garnish a baked goat cheese salad with roasted grapes and croutons
• Toss pasta with goat cheese, toasted walnuts, chives, and grapes
• Add grapes to a coleslaw made with red and green cabbage. Layer the slaw in a pulled-pork or ham sandwich.
• Make a grape chutney for turkey, ham, or roast pork sandwiches. And make extra to serve with roast duck.