13 Ways to Use Fresh Tomaotes!

Wednesday , June 24, 2009

13 Uses for Home Grown Tomatoes!!!

If you have a home garden, or live close to someone with a home garden, chances are that, later this summer, you will have a pile of tomatoes sitting on your counter. And, while you may love having VLT (veggie lettuce tomato) sandwiches everyday for lunch, you may still have mountains of tomatoes just waiting to be used.
I have to admit that in past years, I have even let them sit out so long, waiting for them to have a purpose, that I later found tomatoes rotting on my counter. This year, especially with attempting to be better about what money we are spending, I vowed to not let them go to waste.

Here are some ideas for using your little tomato treasures:

Salads - Slice larger tomatoes or use cherry or grape tomatoes

Fresh Salsa

Soup - Tomato Soup or Gazpacho are both perfect choices.

Broil - Cut tomatoes in half and top with Parmesan cheese before putting them in the broiler for 3 - 5 minutes.

Sandwiches - Almost any sandwich can benefit from a couple of slices of these lycopene-filled darlings.

Saute - Add these to your favorite pasta dish or they make a great garnish on top of chicken or fish.

Roast - Put them in with a little olive oil and some salt for a great side dish.

Freeze - Dunk tomatoes into boiling water and then remove their skins. Then, cut them in half, remove the seeds, and pop them into freezer bags. Who doesn't love fresh tomatoes in the dead of winter?

Homemade Pizza - Roma tomatoes are my favorite for topping homemade pizza!

Ketchup - Try your hand at making homemade ketchup.

Canning - Though this can be a little more challenging, this is a great way to preserve your tomatoes for long term use.

Pick Them Before They're Red - Then you can make Fried Green Tomatoes! Yum!

Give Them Away - Scope out which of your neighbors don't have garden, and try surprising them with a basket of fresh tomatoes! Some food pantries will even allow you to drop off fresh produce, which could be such a blessing to someone, especially with so many people unemployed this summer.