Grilling tomatoes and topping them with sage releases warm, earthy flavor

One of life’s great pleasures, I believe, is eating a ripe tomato sprinkled with coarse salt during the tomato heaven months of August and September.
   But grill those same seasonal tomatoes and you’ve got an even greater delicacy on your hands, I discovered recently upon making Sage and Garlic Grilled Tomatoes (click for the recipe) with my husband.
   These tomatoes were extremely delicious.
   The grilling warmed the tomato, loosening its skin and amplifying and deepening its wonderful taste.
   The olive oil (make sure to use a good one if you can), coarse salt and garlic worked their flavor magic, but the fresh sage sprinkled on top is the masterful crowning gesture of this terrific recipe.
   The sage lent an extra earthiness, marrying perfectly with the deep tomato taste. The recipe says other types of herbs can be used, but I highly recommend going with the sage.
   These tomatoes would be a wonderful side to a luscious grilled steak.
   The recipe says to use plum tomatoes, but I used medium-sized tomatoes-on-the-vine instead. I cut off the bottoms and tops of each tomato so they could stand upright on an even base, then proceeded to cover them with olive oil, salt, garlic and sage.
   The recipe includes a ton of information on how to grill the tomatoes on different types of grills, including indoor grills.
   We used the very top section of grilling information for contact grills, where the tomatoes are left upright with the sage on top and cooked for four to six minutes.
    After the tomatoes are grilled, they are served immediately.