Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes

Tomatoes are one of the versatile fruits on the planet, and one of my favourites for quick and easy, as well as slow and a bit more difficult. Nutritionally, they are the bomb, full of antioxidants and in particular carotenes and lycopene. These protect against cancers and help boost your immune system. Really it doesn’t matter what form it’s in - either fresh, tinned, dried, or as tomato sauce.

Tomatoes are one of those ingredients that are synonymous with many cuisines, particularly Italian. But they were introduced from the New World and were thought to have originated with the Aztecs. They are relatively easy to grow, plants keep popping up out of my compost, but the possums keep stealing them before I get a chance to eat them. You can even grow varieties like cherry tomatoes in pots - and kids love them.

Growing up in the cold Canberra winters the best comfort food was tinned tomato soup. One tin of milk to the tin of condensed tomato soup served with crumpets dripping with butter with perhaps just a smear of Vegemite. Soggy tomato sandwiches are another, perhaps less comforting memory. Popped in a brown paper bag, by the time lunch time came around the white bread was soaked through, a gluey mess that stuck to the roof of your mouth. The top tip of the time was of course to stick the tomato between two pieces of lettuce. Now of course bruschetta has taken its place - a good strong sourdough rubbed with garlic, drizzled with olive oil, topped with tomato, a slosh of balsamic vinegar and if you are feeling fancy a basil leaf or two. Delicious!

Top Tomato Tips

What are my top tomato tips?

Don’t be frightened of tomato sauce. My kids put it on everything and I mean everything. It’s a great source of lycopene and antioxidants and if it was drowned in tomato sauce they ate all sorts of different veggies. If you are worried about salt and sugar then buy the low salt and sugar varieties but really embrace the redders!
Tomato paste - little lycopene bombs. It’s a great thickener you can add it to meatloaf, to stews have it on pizza, add it to almost anything really with a bit of a sauce.
Pasta sauce. Passata in Italian is just sieved tomato puree but there are jars and tins and bottles of tomato pasta sauce. It would have to be one of the easiest, quickest meals that I would give the kids after getting them home from daycare. Boil some pasta toss through the pasta sauce and voila! If I thought I needed to add extra veg I would grate in a carrot and some mushrooms. I always grated the mushrooms that way they couldn’t pick them out. If I was feeling particularly energetic or had a little bit of extra time I would make a cheese bechamel sauce and pop it in the oven to give it a crispy top. Still a bit of a favourite.
My go-to barbecue veg when I have people over is balsamic tomatoes. Again because I am super lazy and more interested in talking to people than preparing food it’s super easy. Halve the tomatoes put on a baking tray ( I use baking paper so that I get out of having to wash the tray), drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, sprinkle over a little salt and sugar. Pop in a slow oven about 160 degrees Celsius and cook them to how you like them.
Just tomatoes in a salad. You can chop through some herbs put on a simple dressing of olive oil and tomato. Kids from a very young age can put together a salad. Wash little hands and get them to toss! A lot of people now say that tomatoes have no flavour and some have been force ripened so the flavour can be a bit underwhelming. I never put tomatoes in the fridge they always sit in a bowl on my kitchen bench - it means that the flavour develops a little more.
Finally, I am going to thank Ken for this one. Ken was in a share house with my daughter and this was his go-to dish that went with anything and everything, Pico de Gallo. PG is a salsa originally from Mexico. It’s super easy to make, just ripe tomatoes, white onion, coriander, a bit of chili (or if the kids don’t like spicy you could leave this out), some salt, lime juice. So it’s about one onion to 4 tomatoes, 1 bunch of coriander, and chili to taste. These are all chopped finely and mixed together, a pinch of salt and then squeeze of over the lime. Let it sit for a few minutes - delicious for taco night. My daughter says her secret ingredient is actually a couple of diced dill pickles mixed through the salsa! So if you are feeling brave try it and let me know how you go.

So they are my top tomato tips.