AHHHHH!!! IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN. Yeah, I like tomato season. I spend all year looking at the perfect red and round supermarket tomatoes, stacked like fool's gold in the supermarket, knowing that under their bright exterior, they hold nothing but insipid foulness.

A perfect late summer tomato, bursting at the seams with fragrant juice with the perfect balance of sweetness and acidity, plucked fresh from the vine the morning you eat it is one of life's greatest pleasures. The last few season's have not been great for tomatoes, but with this year's record rainfalls in the northeast (thanks, global warming), we're on the cusp of what is supposed to be one of the finest tomato seasons in history.

That's exciting news for all of us.

With tomatoes, the simplest preparations are always the best, but that doesn't mean you can't get a little creative. To get you prepared, we've put together 27 of our favorite fresh tomato recipes. That's enough to last you the whole season! (yeah, right).

Click through the slideshow to see them all >> or jump straight to the recipes below:

Salads

• Mediterranean Chopped Salad with Tomatoes, Peppers, Feta, and Basil
• Summer Tomato Salad
• Tuna, Tomato, and Basil Tartare
• Grilled Cheese Curd Panzanella
• Grilled Panzanella Salad

Soups

• Fresh Tomato Soup with Roasted Corn Guacamole
• Andalusian Gazpacho
• Real-Deal Tortilla Soup
• Tomato Egg Drop Soup

Sauces and Condiments

• Tomato Jam
• Ají (Colombian-Style Tomato and Onion Salsa)
• Patacones Con Hogao (Colombian-style Fried Plantains with Tomato-onion Sauce)
• Roasted Tomato Salsa

Sandwiches

• BLT Sandwiches with Candied Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Jam
• The TMT: Tomato, Mayo, and Toast
• Fried Tomatillo and Spicy Mayo Sandwiches
• Roasted Tomato Quesadillas with Cilantro Cream
• Squash Blossom Quesadillas with Bacon and Tomatoes

Mains

• Chinese Stir-fried Eggs and Tomatoes
• Grilled Mexican Chorizo with Spicy Tomato Caper Sauce
• Provençal Tomatoes (Baked Tomatoes Stuffed with Cheese and Breadcrumbs)
• Tomato Tart with Parmesan-Rosemary Crust
• Colombian Chicken Stew with Potatoes, Tomato, and Onion
• Garlic Shrimp with Basil, Tomatoes, and Pepper Flakes
• Linguine With Oven-Roasted Tomato Puttanesca
• Roasted Tomato Risotto with Fresh Mozzarella
• Handcut Pasta with Ricotta and Peas

About the author: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is the Chief Creative Officer of Serious Eats where he likes to explore the science of home cooking in his weekly column The Food Lab. You can follow him at @thefoodlab on Twitter, or at The Food Lab on Facebook.