This season I will mostly be eating.......Tomatoes

Tomatoes
Why?
The wonderful fruits of the tomato plant are at their best from now until September. Tomatoes are so easy to grow; one year, I managed to have delicious cherry tomatoes well into October from a plant supported in a large sunny apartment window. They just need a lot of water and a lot of food. There's great satisfaction in eating something you've grown yourself- even if it's easier, or cheaper to buy it. (Which it isn't, incidentally!)
It's great fun for children to watch something grow and to have an active role in caring for it. I also think it's worthwhile for them to have a sense of where food comes from and may have some fringe benefits: my little 18 month old nephew can be bribed far to easily with a cherry tomato.

Nutrition
Apart from the nutritional value of fresh tomatoes, dried, semi-dried tomatoes an tomato pastes and purees have an extremely high concentration of the antioxidant lycopene - even higher than the fresh fruit. Lycopene is what gives tomatoes their red colour and a high intake of lycopene has been shown to help prevent prostate cancer making it another 'nutriceutical' of interest. Lycopene absorption is improved in the presence of fat, making even more sense of the Mediterranean tomato salad with olive oil.

Recipes
How easy are tomatoes?
For an impressive Insalata Caprese starter, simply slice ripe vine tomatoes and some buffalo mozarella and arrange on a plate with some fresh basil leaves. Drizzle with a good quality extra virgin olive oil and a tiny little bit of sea salt if needed.

As a great side dish, try this salsa which is a feature at our friends Helen & Brendan's wonderful barbeques.

Tinned tomatoes and sieved tomatoes (passata) should be a mainstay of any store cupboard. Apart from the extra high lycopene content, the easiest pasta sauces can be made from them in minutes- minus the trans-fatty acids and salt content of commercially prepared sauces. Try this recipe and add to it whatever you like.