Whether you grow your own tomatoes in a kitchen garden, are blessed with a windfall from a neighbor, or get a bargain on a case at your local farmers market, you'll want to find ways to preserve them.
Crushed Tomatoes for Easy Weeknight Meal Prep
With this first recipe, you‘ll learn how to can crushed tomatoes at home. Don’t be nervous if this is the first time you’ve canned vegetables. You’ll follow the traditional water-bath canning process, which is straightforward and requires little special equipment.Having home-canned crushed tomatoes on your pantry shelves is the key to quick and easy weeknight meal prep. A topping of crushed tomatoes will give a flavor boost to meat, chicken, fish, or whatever you have on hand.
Lacto-Fermented Tomatoes for Healthy Digestion
If the term lacto-fermentation is new to you, it’s a process of submerging fresh vegetables—in this case, tomatoes—in a saltwater brine and letting the naturally occurring bacteria on the tomatoes take over and proliferate. The sugars in the tomatoes break down and create lactic acid, which imparts a delightful tangy flavor throughout the tomatoes and the brine.Best of all, this process creates a food that is now rich in good bacteria, or what we commonly call probiotics, and these beneficial probiotics maintain or improve our good gut health. The healthier our gut is, the healthier we are. Plus, the process of fermentation boosts the nutrition of whatever food you are fermenting. In the case of tomatoes, the fermentation process significantly increases the powerful antioxidant lycopene, which may benefit heart health.
Even if you have never tried fermenting vegetables, you will find the process quite easy.
When You Crave Something Sweet
These days, most of us are trying to avoid foods with added sugar. But still, on occasion, we might crave a sweet treat. The tomatoes in the following recipe are so scrumptious, you’ll never guess they haven’t been sprinkled with sugar! A slow roast in the oven with some dried oregano and olive oil is all you need to bring out their natural sweetness.These easy candied tomatoes are perfect for a simple side dish for a weeknight meal, but you may also want to have them handy in your fridge for a tasty snack whenever you get a bite from the sugar bug.
