Sunshine food

Bursting with flavour and nutrients, these little taste explosions should be on your menu almost every day of the week.

There are over 7000 varieties of tomatoes ranging in colour from red, yellow and green to purple and even brown.

HEALTH BENEFITS
Tomatoes are a great source of potassium, niacin, vitamin B6 and folate.

They’re packed with lycopene, a cancer-fighting substance that lends them their lovely, mostly red colour.
> Eating tomatoes can help to protect against prostate and colon cancer, and also reduce the risk of getting cancer in the digestive tract.
> Combine tomatoes with fat-rich foods (like avocados) for maximum effect as their goodness is absorbed more effectively into the body when consumed with fats.
> Tomatoes have even more health benefits when cooked and processed. In fact, the South African Association for Food Science & Technology found that the greatest protective effect from tomatoes comes through dehydrating tomato powder into tomato paste.
> Tomatoes also contain high levels of naturally-occurring free glutamate, which enhances the natural basic flavours in foods.

COOKING WITH TOMATOES
> Recipes often call for peeled and seeded tomatoes. I think life’s too short for that, but if you feel the need to comply, lightly cross-cut the bottom of the tomato, immerse it in boiling water for 2–3 minutes, then lift out, cool and peel it.
> The flavour of fresh or lightly cooked tomatoes works well in chilled soups and sauces.
Baked or roasted, tomatoes become rich and sweet — perfect for pizza and pasta.
Baby tomatoes roast in minutes. Sprinkled with Maldon salt and olive oil, they’re simply sublime with grilled fish or chicken.

BUYING AND STORING

For superior taste, look out for vine-ripened tomatoes. Tomatoes are mostly picked under-ripe and then ripened off the vine before being sold.
> Darker-skinned tomatoes contain more lycopene, so go for deep red ones.
> Store at room temperature or place in the sun to ripen.

ROASTED TOMATO SALAD
This salad can also be used as a pasta sauce or on sandwiches.

SERVES 4

500 g selection of cocktail tomatoes, halved
2 large Roma tomatoes, cut into 6 wedges
a handful of basil leaves, torn
1 red onion, sliced
1 T red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 T olive oil
1/4 t sugar

Preheat the oven to 180tC. Roast half of the cocktail tomatoes and the Roma tomatoes for 10 minutes. Mix the rest of the ingredients in bowl. When ready, add the roast tomatoes and toss to combine.