There are many ways to use green tomatoes from your garden. The best ways to use green tomatoes is Salsa Pico, fried green tomatoes, ripen off the vine for red tomatoes, and they can be frozen to be used in soups and stews later. Tomatoes contain antioxidants, and their red color comes from lycopene which slows down aging and helps prevent cancer and heart disease. It also contains vitamin C and K, which strengthen blood vessels and boost the immune system!
Here are the ways to use green tomatoes from the garden
can you eat green tomatoes from the garden
We are all familiar with the saying; they’re green; wait till they ripen. However, you can eat green tomatoes from the garden.
It’s believed that this famous saying came into being because people used to harvest their tomatoes when they were red. After all, that was when they tasted best. Nowadays, most of us grow our own, and we will only get a reasonable crop if we pick them before the frost comes along in October or November. If we do this, we would probably expect to get a few green tomatoes on the plant until it gets cold enough to die off completely.
Even so, some years, there might be an abundance of ripe tomatoes, and you may feel like using up every last one of them before it rots. In this case, it would be a good idea to know how to prepare them, so they look presentable and taste as nice as possible.
The first thing you have to do is prevent discoloration, which means the tomatoes must be peeled before cooking. The best way of doing this is by putting them in a bowl of cold water with a tablespoonful or two of lemon juice added. This will stop the flesh from going brown and give the dish a pleasantly tangy flavor.
Peel enough tomatoes for your recipe, then cut off the stems and slice away any seedy areas. Cut out any bruises or soft spots because these can make your sauce bitter during cooking.
If you will use them raw, then cut them into wedges or chunks and add a little salt to taste. You don’t want to season the tomatoes if they go into a cooked dish because they will become too wet and break down. Seasoning should be done just before serving so that the flavors have time to develop without being diluted by any juices.
One of the tastiest ways of preparing green tomatoes is in a classic Southern dish called pico de gallo, which is used as a salsa for tortilla chips or other snacks. To make it, chop three peeled green tomatoes, half an onion, and half a red pepper very finely, and add two tablespoonfuls of chopped fresh coriander/cilantro, a small squeeze of lime juice, and a tiny pinch of salt.
Will a green tomato ripen off the vine?
Green tomatoes can be ripened off the vine.
When a tomato is picked, it begins to change color and lose sugars and acids. If you let a green tomato sit on your counter in high heat for about two days, it will turn red and become sweet instead of sour. You can use this method with unripe red or yellow tomatoes if you wish them to be ready when they are not fully ripe yet. “Ripening” green tomatoes in such a way won’t add any flavor at all, though; the taste won’t change from what it originally was when they were still green.
It takes only the right conditions for the ripening process to begin: warmth (about 55 degrees Fahrenheit), high humidity, and ethylene gas. Ethylene is released by many fruits when they’re ripe; it’s the ripening trigger for tomatoes. If you want to speed up the process, place your green tomato in a paper bag with an apple or banana (which produces large amounts of ethylene). You can also enclose it in a tightly closed paper bag without any other fruit.
You can get tomatoes to stay green not just to last longer but so that your plants will continue producing more fruits after the first ones are picked. The color change stresses them, which signals them to stop flowering and start fruiting more. Since the plant gets all the nutrients from what you’ve already plucked off its branches, it will direct its energy toward ripening more fruits instead of producing flowers.
Supermarket tomatoes are picked before they are ripe, even those that look red on the outside. Once you get them home, store them at room temperature for up to about a week, away from direct sunlight. Don’t put them in the fridge-they won’t ripen anything there but will rot first. If you want to keep supermarket tomatoes for several weeks or longer, put them in the refrigerator crisper bin where it’s coldest and use them within five days or so after bringing them out of storage. Even if they were green when you bought them, once they’re cold enough to slow down cellular activity, some will eventually turn red on their own.
Tomato vines will keep producing tomatoes for a few weeks after the first ones are ripe. You can pick all of the green and let none of them ripen to full color, or you can let some ripen off the vine while picking others when they’re still green. The fruits reddened by ripening in this way won’t have any more taste than they originally did when still green, but it’s a simple method that might be useful if you want to buy fewer types of tomatoes at a time, store them better, or beat your competition to growing its tomatoes instead.
Can you freeze raw green tomatoes
Yes, you can. Putting up green tomatoes for later use in cooked dishes is easy with a little preparation. Choose the ripest firm fruit for best results, and be sure to remove any bruised or damaged portions. The skins should look fresh and healthy.
To prepare the tomatoes, wash them thoroughly under cool running water and pat dry with paper towels before storage. Some people like to core their green tomatoes; this is unnecessary but may make it easier to slice them for cooking or freezing later on if desired. Store your recently-prepared green tomato slices in Ziploc freezer bags labeled with the date and contents of the recipe. Be sure to press out all air from the bag before sealing it tightly. You can also use Mason-type jars or freezer paper to store sliced green tomatoes, but be careful with these containers if you are not going to immediately transfer your tomato slices to them since they can break when being filled in a large batch. Be sure to leave some headspace in any container that is not in use to allow for expansion in the freezer during freezing. For best results, let your green tomatoes thaw slowly overnight in the refrigerator before using them in cooked dishes.
For more tips on freezing tomatoes, check out our Ultimate Guide to Freezing Garden Tomatoes!
How to preserve green tomatoes for winter
Here are some ideas on how to preserve green tomatoes for winter so you can enjoy them throughout the colder months:
* To make fried green tomatoes, slice 1/4″ thick and place on a drying rack. Make sure that pieces aren’t touching each other. Let it sit in an area that gets indirect light or keep indoors near a window. It will take one week for small pieces to dry and one month for large slices to dry completely. Once they are dried, you can keep them in air-tight containers or mason jars.
* You can also slice green tomatoes into 1/4″ thick pieces and put them on cookie sheets. Place cookie sheets in the oven at 150 degrees F until crispy. Store in glass jars, such as a mason jar, when cooled down after removing from the oven.
* Green tomato syrup: wash and remove stems of green tomatoes; cut green tomatoes into halves or quarters depending on the desired size; place green tomatoes in a pot; add enough water to cover all green tomatoes; add honey or sugar, if desired (amount will depend on how much syrup desired and how sweet the tomatoes are); add spices to taste, such as cinnamon or allspice; bring to a boil and simmer until the desired consistency. Once cooled, place in a jar with a tight lid and refrigerate for two weeks.
* Green tomato chutney: wash green tomatoes and remove stem end; cut into pieces of the desired size; Sautee onion in olive oil until soft, then add garlic and cook for another minute; add green tomatoes, apple cider vinegar, sugar/honey (amount will depend on how much chutney is being made), salt, curry powder, fennel seed, mustard seeds, ginger root or turmeric if desired. Cover the pot with the top and cook over low heat until the mixture cooks down, stirring to prevent sticking. Once cooled, place in a jar with a tight lid and refrigerate for two weeks.
* Green tomatoes can also be frozen to be used later in the winter months. Wash green tomatoes and remove stem end; cut into pieces of the desired size. Place on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper to avoid them sticking together; freeze until solid, then transfer into a freezer bag or container to store in the freezer for up to one year.
* Green tomato relish: wash green tomatoes and remove stem end; finely chop green tomatoes (if you’d like, you can use a food processor); Sautee onion in olive oil until soft, then add garlic and cook for another minute; add chopped green tomatoes, apple cider vinegar, sugar/honey (amount will depend on how much relish is being made), salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, ground cloves if desired. Cover the pot with the top and cook over low heat until the mixture cooks down, stirring to prevent sticking. Once cooled, place in a jar with a tight lid and refrigerate for two weeks.
