Although cans of tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste are available at any time of year, and although whole tomatoes sit in the grocery store’s produce aisles all year, the freshest, most nutritious tomatoes are picked between July and September. An iconic summer fruit, the tomato appears in cuisines around the world.
How to Pick the Perfect Tomato
Choose a tomato that is firm to the touch, feels heavy for its size, and it not too cool. Also look at the tomato itself to ensure that the skin is not wrinkly, that the color is full, and that it is free of bruises and blemishes. Ganda, in the “How to pick a good tomato” post on her blog, Eat Drink One Woman, warns against choosing tomatoes that are still on the vine. “The fact that they are still on the vine almost always means they were not ripened on the living vine,” she writes. “Those deceptively red tomatoes are always tasteless and mushy.” As usual, getting tomatoes picked very recently (for example, purchased at a farmer’s market) is preferred to tomatoes that traveled a great distance.
Keep tomatoes at room temperature, away from sunny windows so they don’t get too hot. If a tomato starts to over-ripen, refrigeration may be necessary, but still, it is better to use them before they reach this point.
How to Use and Eat Tomatoes
Dice tomatoes to toss into salads, slice them to put on sandwiches, or just eat them on their own (especially if they are cherry or grape tomatoes!) Also consider peeling and seeding a bunch of tomatoes, combining with Italian spices some citrus and red wine, and boiling to make your own pasta sauce.
The website “Spice Advice” recommends the following herbs and spices as complements to the juicy flavor of tomatoes:
- Basil
- Chili Powder
- Cumin
- Dillweed
- Garlic
- Marjoram
- Oregano
- Rosemary
- Thyme
Health Benefits of Ripe Tomatoes
The tomato is a great source of vitamins C, A, and K. Among tomatoes’ greatest contributions to health, however, is the phytonutrient lycopene. The antioxidant properties of lycopene have been shown to protect against myriad cancers, including colorectal, endometrial, prostate, breast, lung, and pancreatic cancers.
To maximize the benefits of tomato’s lycopene, consider eating tomatoes with fat-containing foods like avocados and olive oil because lycopene is fat-soluble, which means its absorption by the body is aided by fats. Also consider choosing organic when possible; organic ketchup has been shown to have almost twice the lycopene content of non-organic ketchups.
Additionally, tomatoes’ potassium, niacin, vitamin B6, and folate facilitate optimal heart health by lowering cholesterol and decreasing blood pressure. Lycopene, too, has beneficial effects on cardiovascular health.
References
Fletcher, J. (1997). Fresh from the Farmers’ Market. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.
The George Mateljan Foundation (n.d.) Tomatoes. Retrieved from : Wholefoods.org
Andy Luttrell - I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in psychology at the Ohio State University after having completed undergraduate education at Eastern ...
Join the Conversation