Lots to Love about Tomatoes
No matter how you say tomato, they are wonderful this year, extremely productive and flavorful. I went a little crazy when I started 30 different types this spring. Now there are so many varieties to choose from that it is mind-boggling.
Cherry tomatoes are the first producers. Rapunzel is a very prolific variety that produces red cherry tomatoes in grape-like clusters. Sweet 100s are sweeter than most. By August, when the days are longer, the sugar content is higher. We also have yellow and pear-shaped cherry tomatoes.
Pear and plum tomatoes are great for making sauce or pico de gallo. Rounded smooth beauties are great for eating fresh, as are beefsteak and oxheart types. The flesh of both of these types is meaty and well flavored.
There are also round ribbed tomatoes that are furrowed. I have tomatoes that are red, orange, yellow, white, pink and blackish red. White tomatoes are very mild, meaty and low in acid. Among the huge tomatoes are Mortgage Lifter and Kellogg’s Breakfast.
Tomatoes love fertile soil, brilliant sun and lots of room to breathe with good airy spacing. Heirloom tomatoes are capable of reproducing themselves true-to-type from seed. They self-pollinate, keeping their genetic stock pure. Hybrids don’t breed true.
Tomatoes have a flavonoid called lycopene that acts as an antioxidant. Lycopene has been shown to help prevent heart disease. In the Harvard Women’s Health Study, it was shown that women with the highest levels of lycopene were about one-third less likely to develop heart disease than those with the lowest levels. Men with the lowest levels of lycopene in their diet had more than triple the risk of a heart attack or stroke compared with men who ate higher amounts.
Another reason to eat tomatoes is that they contain a compound called gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), which can help lower blood pressure and strengthen the heart muscle.
Try roasting slices of tomato drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with thyme and basil in a 250-degree oven for several hours. Serve the dried tomatoes over pasta with fresh garlic.
A Blue Zone recipe for a village Greek salad is your best sun-ripened tomatoes sliced with fresh sliced cucumbers. Add a chopped green pepper, a small sliced onion and top with kalamata olives and a thick slice of feta. Sprinkle on oregano and dill and drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar. Delicious!