Tomatoes – quick, while they’re still in season

While we can still get delicious locally grown tomatoes in season, here are a few simple recipes to make the most of them. Tomatoes are powerhouses of Vitamins A and C and lycopene. Because of the rich anti-oxidants, they may be helpful in preventing cancer.

Botanically speaking, a tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable. Not really understanding why, I looked up the definition of each, and still couldn’t decide which classification was correct. So, looking into it more, I found a story that might explain the nomenclature – it comes from a book by Joanne Weir, you say tomato (1994). My husband is happy to eat tomatoes in any form, including ‘straight up’, as a fruit, so I bought this book for him years ago so we could make ‘all things tomato.’

According to Ms. Weir, in the 1890’s, when tomatoes became a popular US import, there was a 10% tariff on vegetable imports to protect American farmers. Seeing the tomatoes coming in, a US Customs agent said they were vegetables. To avoid paying taxes, a West Indian importer claimed they were fruits, and a lengthy legal battle ensued. In court, it was determined that the tomato was eaten as part of the main meal, as a vegetable, not generally as a dessert, as fruits would be. Ever since, correctly or not, the tomato has been referred to as a vegetable.

For the very simplest of appetizers, do a low-fat version of Caprese salad, as shown above. Just cut a tomato into thick slices, cut up some basil, and sprinkle some grated mozzarella cheese. In restaurants, it is often served with thick slices of cheese, but this contains much more fat and calories than is needed. If you wish, drizzle with balsamic vinegar and use salt and pepper to taste.

Here’s a recipe for Roasted Tomato Salsa. It is adapted from a wonderful website www.onceuponachef.com that provides step-by-step instruction for mouth-watering recipes by a professionally trained chef.

This is a fabulous recipe that you can easily adapt to your own taste preferences, as well as make it more or less chunky, as you wish. Roasting the vegetables brings out their natural flavors. The salsa can be used with chips, or as part of dinner served over chicken, fish or couscous.

Ingredients:
4 vine-ripened tomatoes, quartered
1 large vidalia onion, cut into wedges
6 cloves garlic, peeled (or some shallots if you are short on garlic, like I was today)
1 Serrano chili pepper, stemmed but left whole (or small amount of chili powder to taste)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 – 2 tsp salt, to taste
1 tsp cumin
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice (roll the lime on the countertop before halving to release more juice)

Directions:
1) Preheat broiler. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil. Toss tomatoes, onion, garlic and pepper with the oil. Broil about 5 inches from the heat until slightly charred, about 12 minutes – watch carefully starting at about 10 minutes.

2) Transfer vegetables and juices to food processor. Add salt and cumin and pulse briefly, leave chunky. Add cilantro and fresh lime juice and pulse briefly again. (If the salsa is already too puréed, mix in cilantro and lime by hand.)

Enjoy!