Description

Care & Storage:
Keep tomatoes at room temperature if at all possible. Refrigeration will kill their flavor! Tomatoes come in all kinds of colors, so use touch to determine if they are soft and ready-to-eat. Give them a light squeeze. If they ‘give’ easily, then use ‘em up (because they won’t keep long)! If they are firm, they can sit on your counter for a couple of days to soften.

Tricks & Tips:
For quick peeling, toss them in boiling water for a few minutes until the skins start to crack. Then run cool water over them and slide off the skins!
If you have tons of must-be-used-now tomatoes, here’s some easy ways to deal with them without getting into canning:

1. Freeze tomatoes easily by cutting out the core (just from the top) and tossing the whole tomato (along with others) in a freezer bag. That’s it! When you use them, let them thaw a bit or run them under water and the skin will just peel right off. Frozen fresh tomatoes retain a surprising amount of flavor. They will be softer in texture after being frozen – but they’ll be great to add to soups, stews, chili, etc.

2. Use your dehydrator and make your own dried tomato slices. Freeze the dried slices then use in wintertime soups and casseroles.

3. Make your favorite sauce recipe (see below) to use up a LOT of tomatoes fast, and then freeze the sauce in single- or family-sized batches.

Easy Prep Ideas:
Eat them raw on salads or sandwiches, of course! Also, a quick saute or broil of (for firmer tomatoes) brief time on the grill will bring out some super flavors to accompany most meals. A simple sandwich of bread/toast, tomato, and your favorite dressing is a great start. Add anything else you’d like – lettuce, meat, other veggies, egg, even (gasp!) peanut butter.

For more info and great ideas, check out our Weirdo of the Week post on tomatoes!

Varieties:
Sunpeach (Pink Cherry Tomato)
Sungold (Golden Cherry Tomato)
Supersweet 100 (Red Cherry Tomato)
Celebrity (Red Slicers)
Valencia (Orange Heirloom)
Malachite Box (Green Heirloom)