Tomatoes everywhere....

[kareng]

We've had a really good crop of tomatoes and I've frozen some (just washed and quartered them) to use in soups, stews, etc. Does anyone have any recipes or ideas of what else to do with them. We usually don't have this many. I don't can so it would need to be something I can freeze - salsa??

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

kareng

 

[Sterling]

How about some Pico? (Pico de gallo)

Dice up your tomatoes and add, diced: onions, garlic, green peppers, jalapeno peppers. Also add the juice of one whole lemon squeezed and some salt to taste.....break open the tortilla chips and ENJOY!!!

 

[Amalthea]

If you like spaghetti sauce, I found a good recipe for roasted tomato sauce. It makes a great "jumping off" base for other sauces.

Wash and halve (Or quarter) 2 pounds of toms. You want to remove the gel if there is any (I grow sauce tomatos, which are usually pretty dry) lay them on a baking pan (needs to have sides at least 1" high) cut side up. Add 4 mashed garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of italian seasoning and I like to add a little salt and pepper, and 1 or 2 medium sized sweet onions, diced on top of the toms. Drizzle with 1/3 cup of olive oil and pop in the oven at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes. I like to flip the tomatos mid way through. When the skins blister they slip right off! After the ingredients roast and are removed from the oven, dump the whole mess into a large skillet or saucepan to simmer to the desired consistancy or use a hand imersion blender to make it smoother. It usually makes enough for one pasta night so I play around with the recipe by using more tomatos or adding tomato paste or diced toms after putting the rosted things into a saucepan. You can dress this recipe up by adding wine or crumbled italian sausage or roasting red peppers along with the tomatos. Yum!

 

[Buckskin gal]

Must be the year for tomatos. We have had an abundance. I like to use them to make homemade chili...I freeze a lot of it for later on. I also make a fresh salsa with it that my family really likes. Chop fresh tomatos, onions, green pepper, maybe some red pepper too, add canned green chilis, cumin, cilantro and salt to taste. My bunch say it is addicting!! We like it with chips, and on scrambeled eggs or even omelts. So healthy too! Mary

We've had a really good crop of tomatoes and I've frozen some (just washed and quartered them) to use in soups, stews, etc. Does anyone have any recipes or ideas of what else to do with them. We usually don't have this many. I don't can so it would need to be something I can freeze - salsa??

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

kareng

 

[OhHorsePee]

I love tomatoes! Do you can? This is the first time in years I haven't canned my own salsa. :no:

There is a very simple recipe if you like mac-n-cheese. In deep baking dish place a row of cooked macaronis. Place thick slices of velveta cheese on top of that. Place slices or quarters of tomatoes on the top. Keep repeating the layers until you have filled your dish. Bake at 350 till cheese is melted and top is just turning golden. I love it!

You can also make a dip. Brown and drain a pound of burger. Saute some onions. Add diced tomatoes. Add Velveeta jalipeno cheese sliced in small cubes. Heat until cheese is melted. Then all you need is your tortilla chips. Mmmm Mmmmmmm good! You can also just add your prepared salsa to this recipe.

Fran

 

[carlenehorse]

I make rotels with them and than I freeze them in ice cube trays. When they are frozen I pop them in a zip lock bag. When I need some rotels I just grab however many cubes I need when cooking. Saves lots of time and storage space in your freezer.

Carlene

 

[wantminimore]

kareng

You don't have to cook the tomatoes, I can just wash and freeze??? We have to many tomatoes too and I was wondering what I could do with them before they go bad.

Leslie

 

[kareng]

Leslie,

I just wash them, quarter them and freeze them. I do cut away the stem area. Once thawed it's best to use them only in soups, etc as they will be somewhat mushy.

Carlene,

What are rotels?? I've not heard that term before.

Thanks!

kareng

 

[Sunny]

Speaking of tomatoes....... we were extremely late with planting ours out and are just now getting a few little baby ones and lots of flowers. However, we're also getting some of those gawd-awful disgusting green worms or caterpillars or whatever they are. We picked a huge one off last night but it was the only one we could find. Obviously there was bound to be more and, sure enough, I found three more giant ones today. Eeeewwww!!! They make my skin crawl just thinking of them!

What can I do to get rid of them and/or prevent any more from coming? And where the heck do they come from anyway?? I'd rather not use any chemical sprays if possible. I realize it might be kind of pointless so late in the season anyway, but at least I'll know for next time.

 

[Cathy_H]

Put a glove on - pick off the worms & drop them in a can of soapy water - I do this with bagworms. Don't know how to get rid of them. We don't have that many & I actually have not found one this year.

 

[Miniv]

We have a BUSHEL of green ones ready to ripen! Was wondering if I couldn't par-boil them, skin them, and feeze them? Then I could use them for any recipe I'd use stewed or canned tomatoes for?

I don't can either.

MA