Are you the kind of person that thinks a tomato should be classified as a vegetable? Since it is not maybe you can eat one for breakfast rather than a banana or apple? What if you have many of them?
Tomatoes - What Shall We Do? (Hover)
You can very easily make "sun-dried" tomatoes in your oven (although it's kind of hot right now ... ) or your food dehydrator
Slice firm tomatoes (too juicy and you don't have enough tomato "meat" to use...) in large, round slices
Brush with olive oil
Sprinkle with garlic and herbs to taste
Arrange on a baking sheet, and put in the oven at 250 F for an hour or more. (or follow your food dehydrator instructions).
Put the dried tomatoes in an airtight jar, and store in a cool dry place. You can use on salad, pizza, even in soups. Yum!
To me tomatoes are both, vegetable and fruit. Fresh tomato sandwiches with a dash of salt and pepper, salad greens and strong onions. Home grown tomatoes have the best flavor I think. I love to eat them out of hand with a pinch of salt for one bite then a pinch of sugar for the next!
I also LOVE canned tomatoes, with a sprinkling of sugar on them for breakfast accompanied with crispy toast.
I can't drink canned tomato juice, burns my stomach. But I CAN drink the juice from the canned tomatoes. Odd isn't it?
Try scalloped tomatoes for a side dish with dinner.
1 can (11 1/2 oz.) dice tomatoes
Worcestershire Sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 Cup croutons
Put tomatoes in a small 1 qt. casserole dish, season with salt, pepper and Worcestershire Sauce. Top with croutons, roll croutons to coat with juice. Dot with margarine or butter, bake at 350 or 400 degrees until the juice boils.
Just a point of interest, tomatoes are of the fruit variety, not only because of the ay they grow, but they are highly alkaline (so they digest the same as fruit). When you stew a tomato it becomes one of the most acidic foods you can eat and will actually hurt your system. I am sure many of you are laughing and thinking... there goes pasta and pizza, but think about it... remember how people eat these things and then cry... 'heartburn'?
Nope. You can plant just one or two in a medium-sized container and put in on the porch where it will get a lot of sunlight. Water it well, watch for bugs and worms, add a little fertilizer. Cherry tomatoes are like little bushes, just like chili peppers, and will grow very nicely in a container.
Why would you want to put tomatoes in a stew and cook them? That just ruins them! I prefer my tomatoes raw, cold, and on its way to my mouth. I do classify them as a fruit, but they're the only fruit I'll eat with salt and pepper on them. This is one of my candies in life. I can eat them just like apples.