8/14/07 | Tomatoes
[ Currently Eating: Chocolate Dipped Cinnamon Altoids ]
Let’s face it: those reviews of candy, snacks, processed foods and Banquet frozen dinners are way more exciting than simple reviews of fruit and veggies. I get a ton of comments with those reviews, but readers pay less attention to plain old “nature-al” foods. After all there’s only so many epic blog rants that you can write about beets. (To all you beet-lovers out there, I’m not hating on beets!)
Still, with us trying to eat a little healthier (emphasis on the “a little” for me), you might notice some posts added of plain old vegetables in between the pop-tarts and frozen pizza. For instance, here’s some tomatoes.
We’ve recently become addicts of the local farmer’s markets. One thing surprising about a lot of them (at least here in Southern California) is that you might think that since a lot of stuff is pesticide free grown at home or is ultra chic gourmet style, it is more expensive. That’s the case with some of things, but you can also find a lot of locally grown produce for good prices. It’s not ethnic-megamarket bargain basement cheap, but for the quality of the vegetables and fruits it can be pretty decent.
We get a lot of herbs, vegetables and fruits at some cheap prices, much cheaper than the average American Supermarket. These vine ripe tomatoes might have been 3 dollars a pound or so, and would have been sitting in the cold at the market for a long time. When we get them at the farmer’s market we just leave them out instead of putting them in the fridge.
I forget the exact Alton Brown episode where he talks about it, but it’s definitely not a good idea to chill tomatoes in the refrigerator if you can avoid it because it irreversibly alters their flavor and texture. (I’m sure someone will write in to tell me the food science of why, along with 50 million corrections to this statement.) The one you’ll see that I cut below - I think I must have let sitting out for about a week and a half. Any longer than that gets a bit sketchy, especially with the summer heat in our house.
The color of these looks almost nuclear bright red, but I swear I didn’t mess with the color in Photoshop that much. Boy, were these ever juicy and good!
I used to really dislike raw tomatoes, but I’ve sorta come around on them. You still won’t see me eating them as you would and apple, which is how I’ve heard a lot of people like to enjoy them. But I really like the versatility of the tomato and try to keep a few on hand at all times when they’re in season. For the other times when prices increase of fresh tomatoes increase, I’ll readily switch to canned.
Price: $1.00
Found At: Farmer’s Market
Cheap Eats Score: 8/10
August 14th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Mmmm…. fresh fruits and veggies are never boring! Have we really gotten that far-removed from appreciating actual FOOD?!
I love farmer’s markets and farm stands. I try to buy as much locally-grown produce as possible. It’s so fresh, usually cheaper than the grocery store, and lasts so much longer. Even when it’s a little more expensive, it’s worth it because it’s so fresh and good.
Native corn is in season now, and there are few thing more summery than perfectly steamed corn on the cob. mmmm. Now I’m starving. lol
August 14th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
you should try your tomatoes sliced, drizzled with a bit of olive oil and sprinkled with some good sea salt. let it sit for a bit, and eat. my host family in france served tomatoes exactly that way as an appetizer before the dinner entree and it was delicious. i wasn’t a fan until i ate them this way and i still eat it them this way some 10 years later.
August 14th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Mmmm … I’m going to have to try what acidspit recommended.
One of the ways I enjoy tomatoes is on top of a bagel with cream cheese. I add salt and pepper to the tomato slice and it’s really yummy. My husband never had them that way and now he loves them too. Here’s a pic
August 14th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
If you think farmer’s markets are good, you should think about joining a CSA farm. It’s farmer’s market produce without the big cost. Instead they are looking for a commitment. I tried it two seasons ago in a desperate attempt to get my family eating more healthy. I figured if the produce was around the house we would eat it. Well we are eating it and I’m finding it is a bargain. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and for a flat fee in the spring the farm will provide your family with a boatload of fresh produce weekly through the growing season. I’m lucky enough to have my pickup point two blocks from my house. I’m always impressed with the quality of the organic produce we receive and often we get so much that we have to give some of it away to the neighbors!
August 16th, 2007 at 9:58 am
I don’t know if it’s just me, but your permalink address says chocolate dipped cinnamon Altoids, but it’s a review about tomatoes. Am I in a different dimension where chocolate dipped cinnamon Altoids are called tomatoes? It’s totally blowing my mind.
I used to buy tomatoes from the store that were grown by a family friend to support them, but paying $5 for four tomatoes seemed excessive to me.
August 16th, 2007 at 10:59 am
christine - we also pick up corn too, delish!
acidspit - we do eat tomatoes similar to the way you mentioned too
nicole - bagel method sounds pretty good, but i usually don’t have bagels on hand.
amy - I’ve heard of CSAs before, I was going to look into that. But it helps to live near the farms right? I’m in the big city…
marvo - LOL, i dunno why it did that. It somehow snagged my “currently eating” and dumped it into the permalink. I would like to visit this dimension of altoids = tomatoes, might be interesting cheap eats… $5 for 4! were they solid gold tomatoes?
August 16th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
I live in downtown Denver which some consider to be a real city but to be honest it remains close to it’s rural roots. The farm we deal with is a little over an hour’s drive from the city. Do some web surfing and see what you find, perhaps you’ll be surprised.
Amy
August 19th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Tomatoes are the one of the most photogenic foods in the world! Sometimes I get a craving and just slice ‘em up thick and make myself a tomato sammich.
August 20th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Love tomatoes. WHen I was a kid I used to eat them like apples. I tried doing that again a few years back just for a nice trip down memory lane and I was like, umm… how did I ever?! Though I snack on grape tomatoes now. Hehe. Ah well. I do love tomatoes in other applications though… drool. Esp. with cheese
September 11th, 2007 at 5:57 am
I love raw tomatoes, sometimes with cucumber sticks, in a tossed salad or even on a sandwich.
But don’t despair, if you only like them cooked. They say cooking increases the available metabolizable lutene content.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
On “Fresh Air”, on NPR.org somewhere, they talked how tomatoes are supposed to be left out of the fridge. Someothersfruitsandveggies are supposed to be chilled. ANd that wild strawberries are impossible to ship. If I find the link. I will send it.