Inevitably some tomatoes will ripen too quickly or blister in the sun. Really! Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and lay on a baking sheet with parchment cut side up. I really appreciate that! My grown children always beg for tomato jam, so this is how I use them up. 2. Pile tomatoes onto the crostini and dot with fresh goat’s cheese for a fast bruschetta. The reason for this is that too much ethylene speeds up the process too much, resulting in less flavorful tomatoes. by Jane Sweeney | Aug 13, 2019 | Recipes, Tips + Tricks | 0 comments. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find someone willing to take extra tomatoes off your hands, and it will be a relief to know they aren’t going to waste. Really! Simply combine chopped tomatoes and other veggies such as red pepper, onions, garlic, and cucumber and toss in olive oil and red wine vinegar. Thanks so much for all the effort and work that went into this. One last pro tip: If you’re running out the door for vacation and you find yourself with a haul of tomatoes, you can actually freeze raw tomatoes pretty well. Thanks for including my Tomato Fruit Salad in the mix. 8. Tomatoes used to be considered an acid food, but most of today's varieties are low-acid. Got too many tomatoes? I can’t eat them all, and I was thinking about canning most of them, but this is a great list of alternatives! Slice them in half horizontally and scoop out the inside. My mom would sometimes mix the green tomatoes together with hot cherry peppers too. Once cooled, I store in a jar and add them to simple pastas or grain salads. These less-than-perfect tomatoes can be some of the juiciest and sweetest you’ll find. I use a food mill after blanching them. I have recipes for green tomato sweet pickle relish and green tomato cake. Here are a few fun recipes that use fruit and tomatoes: I had never heard of Shakshukah before, but now I’m sure it will be my new favorite dish. If you have too many tomatoes, making tomato juice is a great way to use them up. … Set aside an afternoon to prepare and can some pasta sauce, and you’ll have quick and nutritious meals available through the winter. Do not refrigerate the tomatoes until they have ripened fully. Ketchup is an American summer staple, but the store bought kind often includes yucky ingredients like high fructose corn syrup. float:none; Making tomato soup is quite simple, and all you have to do is cook or roast some peeled tomatoes … How about tomato jam? Spanish Tomato Bread (Pan con Tomate) with Olive Oil Fried Eggs . Here in Texas we like to make an italian sauce, Thanks also for featuring my Crock Pot Marinara. } Yum! Of course you can freeze cooked tomatoes, but have you ever considered freezing raw tomatoes? Rub a tablespoon of this mixture into your face and rinse with warm water. But in case you didn’t know, clean your tomatoes before you get started just to make sure you aren’t trying to ripen any bugs or dirt along with your tomatoes. Always smell a tomato before you buy it--a ripe tomato smells like a tomato--an unripe one has very little smell. If you’ve never heard of it, I’ll break it down for you: It’s bread with tomatoes. Lunch means magnificent BLTs, of course. It was sooo delicious!! As to what to do with them? So many of our local toms have a tough time ripening in our short season. Yes, come late-August and September, many gardeners end up with a dozen or two heirloom tomatoes ripening on their kitchen counter, with dozens more cherry, San Marzano, Brandywine, Yellow Pear, and countless other tomato varieties ripening on the vine. Your email address will not be published. The past couple weeks I shared 10 Gluten Free Pumpkin Desserts, 10 Fall Apple Desserts, 10 Fall Sweet Potato Recipes, 10 Cauliflower Recipes, and this week the theme is recipes with sun dried tomatoes.. Thank you! If you make a big batch you can freeze or can enough to last through the winter. You can use tomato juice in soups, to add flavor to meat, to deodorize a stinky refrigerator, or to make a kick butt Bloody Mary. float:right; Make SALSA. Delicious eating as a snack from the jar or adding to salads or a side to a hamburger. They are not shipped RIPE--they are shipped green and gassed. I always make a bunch, use those tomato skins for powder, just dehydrate them. 4. At the end of the summer, many gardeners end up with too many tomatoes. Every Thursday I send an email with three quick tips to brighten your day and help you and your family lead a more natural life. There is a dried up little tomato on which you can still see where the fruit worm ate it and pooped all over it. You should follow Isabel for all her Mexican influenced cooking, but if you haven’t discovered her yet, the fresh homemade salsa recipe on her site, Isabel Eats, is a perfect place to start. You hate to waste these beauties, but you can’t help wondering…. You can buy tomatoes that are perfectly red and still not ripened--because they use gas to make them LOOK red. info@CoolMomPicks.com, Cool Mom Eats Editor tips: We love working with brands that reflect our values and help make feeding families better + easier. Vegetarian . What Is Ripening, Anyways? Roast in a 225-degree oven for about 2 – 2 1/2 hours or until they look a little wrinkled, but not dried out. Thank you so much for featuring my recipes for canned salsa, spaghetti sauce and ketchup.