Thursday, June 4, 2009

Fruit or vegetable? Tomato or tomatoe?




Tomatoes are complex. Botanically they are fruit. But if you look at their culinary uses, they are eaten and prepared more like a vegetable.

It doesn't matter to me. I love tomatoes. I can eat them raw, roasted, stewed, in salsa, marinated in italian dressing (like my grandaddy did years ago) or coupled with sharp cheddar on a baguette—in shades of red, yellow, orange, purple or green. 

I was fortunate enough to get some cherry tomatoes in my Papa Spud's box yesterday. I washed them and popped them one by one—red, yellow & orange—into my mouth. Mmmm. They burst in your mouth, and you can almost feel the warm sunshine that ripened them. 

I can snack on a bowl of cherry tomatoes like I do with cucumbers or carrots. And that's pretty much what I did yesterday for lunch and tonight for dinner. I tossed a few in broccoli salad for my lunch today. Not only did they provide a nice color to my salad, but consumed with broccoli is better for your health. Tomatoes and broccoli are good eaten alone, but when eaten together (especially cooked a bit) they are superfoods. Their nutrients are more readily digested by humans.

I threw together a broccoli salad with cherry tomatoes, red onion & lemon-tahini dressing early this morning for lunch. I grabbed some almonds, pistachios and blueberries to enjoy too. 

I love summer—the simplicity, color and variety it brings to meals. 

1 comment:

erin said...

adrienne! so glad to have found your blog--beautiful and thoughtful! cheers!