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OSU Extension August 2022 – Tomatoes
Jul
Tomatoes are the focus of this month’s OSU Extension education on KWSO. We are in the harvestings season for tomatoes and that means they will be easily available for a much cheaper price.
Tomatoes are at their best when left in the open air and eaten within 5 days of purchase. When you refrigerate a tomato, the ripening of it will be delayed and the flavor will be reduced, so it’s better to have them ripen.
Aside from being a tasty vegetable, tomatoes offer boosts to your immune system with its natural antioxidant Lycopene and the Vitamins C and A. You can learn more about tomatoes in this month’s FOOD HERO
A delicious tomato recipe is the Cheesy Polenta Pie. It’s made with corn, beans, tomatoes, lots of seasonings, and cornmeal. It is a recipe that helps to rotate out your pantry or canned and dried foods. This recipe is also pretty quick with only 30 minutes of prep and 30 minutes of cooking time, making dinner ready in an hour.
If youth are helping in the kitchen, this is an easy to follow recipe with lots of opportunity to
learn how to measure ingredients and follow steps in a recipe.
With tomatoes being in season, it’s only natural to use salsa with them. If you’re thinking of canning salsa, it is extremely important to follow research-based, safe-tested recipes. Ingredients like peppers and onions are low in acid and if a safe recipe isn’t followed, the product could cause a serious food borne illness. It’s also worth noting that changing the amounts of low acid ingredients is unsafe.
Freezing is the only safe option for preserving untested or original recipes. Safe-tested salsa recipes can be water bath or pressure canned as long as the recipes and processing instructions are strictly followed.
You can use vinegar that is at least 5% acidity or bottled lemon or lime juice. Never use squeezed juice because the level of acidity may not be high enough, resulting in an unsafe product.
Find more information and a Salsa Recipe Here:
