I Love Tomatoes!

It is with much anticipation that I look forward to late summer when tomatoes are plentiful and at their peak of flavor. When they start to arrive en masse I celebrate them almost every day for weeks on end!

I remember not too many years ago when it was hard to get good tasting tomatoes except at roadside stands or by growing your own, but now, with on-the-vine tomatoes and heirloom varieties, it is much easier to enjoy a great diversity of the wonderfully tasty fruit and sometimes even find good tomatoes off season.

The recent proliferation of heirloom tomatoes has added many more colors, sizes and tastes to the tomato market. I like to mix different colors/tastes of heirlooms together for their visual appeal as well as added depth of flavor. The small grape and pear tomatoes make delicious juicy bite sized snacks to pop in your mouth. The flavors of heirloom tomatoes vary with their color. The lighter colors of white, yellow or orange tomatoes have a higher sugar content and thus are sweeter while the so called black or purple varieties have a deep and tangy tomato flavor.

When I purchase tomatoes at the store I always go by smell for the best tasting tomatoes. This is especially helpful with the heirloom varieties as they may not always look so great but if they smell good you can bet they will taste good. To select the best tomatoes, look for good coloring, smooth plump skin and heaviness for their size. They should be free of bruises, blemishes, deep cracks, or leathery dark patches. If tomatoes are soft and yielding to the touch, they are fully ripe, so only buy them if you are going to use them right away.

Tomatoes should never be refrigerated unless they have been cooked, cut for a salad or raw dish, or are fully ripe and will soon spoil. Refrigerating tomatoes will degrade their flavor and texture. Ripe tomatoes you've refrigerated to keep from spoiling will taste better if you bring them to room temperature before eating.

One of the beneficial phytochemicals that is very prominent in tomatoes, and has gotten a lot of press and research lately, is lycopene. Many studies indicate that lycopene is most likely the substance responsible for protection against heart disease and cancer. Lycopene is fat soluble and dietary fat is needed for it to be absorbed. Also, it is absorbed into the body much better from cooked tomatoes which accounts for why tomato sauce with olive oil is great for your health. In addition, tomatoes ripened on the vine have more lycopene than those that ripen after they are picked.

If you enjoy the flavor and bounty of one of summer's most wonderful fruits and are looking for simple recipes to enjoy them here are Six Simple Vegetarian Tomato Recipes.