THE MAINE MARKET BASKET

 A weekly news service for promoting 

 Maine's healthy, local and seasonal

 foods.

Featured crop: Tomatoes

Summertime and the eating is easy, or at least it should be.

What could be easier than serving up a vine-ripened native Maine tomato cut into wedges?

Contrary to popular opinion, tomatoes are not necessarily red or round.  These days, you can find them in all shapes, colors, sizes, and a variety of flavors and textures.

For the best selection of native tomatoes, check out a farmers' market or farmstand in your area. 

During the week of August 28-September 3, you'll be able to not only see these different varieties, but taste some too.  That's when Maine's farmers celebrate Tomato Tasting Week. 

Check out the "get real. get maine!" website for a listing of tomato tasting locations in your area.

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Shopping info:

Tomato varieties can differ greatly in size, shape, and color.  While supermarket tomatoes are usually red, round, and smooth-skinned, there are many delicious older varieties - known as heirlooms - that have irregular coloring, shapes and occasionally wrinkles and even cracks in their skin.   If you have any doubt about whether a tomato variety looks the way it should, ask the farmers market or farmstand vendor for a second opinion. Ripe tomatoes will feel slightly soft to the touch and will have a sweet fragrance.

Preparation info:

Very little preparation is needed if you are serving tomatoes raw in a salad.  Cooking with tomatoes can also be quite simple if you keep a few things in mind.  One is that tomato skins and seeds do not disappear in cooking.  If you are bothered by their texture in a tomato sauce, for example, you will need to seed and peel your tomatoes before using them. 

The best way of peeling a tomato is to plunge it into a pot of boiling water for 15-30 seconds, remove it with a slotted spoon, and place it in cold water.  You will see that the skin will start to peel away all by itself.  Using a small kitchen knife, grab onto the peel and pull it away from the tomato. 

When cooking tomatoes, do not use a lightweight aluminum pot as it can react with the acid in the tomato to create a bad flavor. 

Featured Recipe:

Tomato-Cucumber Salad

Nothing says summer as much as fresh tomatoes and cucumbers served raw in a salad. 

Ingredients:

3-4 cups of diced tomatoes

3-4 cups of diced cucumbers

1 small onion chopped (optional)

3 tablespoons of olive or vegetable oil

1 tablespoon of vinegar, red or white, or lemon juice

1/4 of a cup of chopped fresh herbs such as basil, parsley, or oregano (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

Combine tomatoes, cucumber and onion, if using, in a salad bowl.  Add oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper and mix gently.  Add herbs, if using, and let stand for 5-10 minutes to allow flavors to mix. 

Serves 4

Did you know?

-The tastiest tomatoes are ones ripened on the vine. Most tomatoes sold in supermarkets are picked green and ripened through exposure to ethylene gas.

-The highest concentration of vitamin C in tomatoes is in the jelly-like substance around the seeds.

-Tomatoes are a good source of lycopene, one of nature's best protections against certain types of cancer.

-While there is much debate on whether tomatoes are a vegetable or a fruit, the US Department of Agriculture considers it a vegetable.

-Unripe green tomatoes can be used to make salsa or can be fried or pickled.

What else is in season?

Seasonal availability of produce in Maine varies from week to week and from one farm or farmers' market to the next.

Fresh, Maine-grown tomatoes are available from mid July through mid October.

The following items are also considered widely available statewide as of this date: salad greens, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, snap and wax beans, beets, blueberries, broccoli, beet greens, eggplant, herbs, leeks, melons, onions, peas, new potatoes, peppers, raspberries, sweet corn, swiss chard, scallions, tomatoes, zucchini and summer squash.

For more info on the seasonal availability of Maine produce, see the chart posted here.

Where to buy fresh, Maine-grown foods in your area:

       Find farmers markets in your area here

         Find farmstands in your area here

        Find CSA farms in your area here

     Find local "pick-your-own" farms here

For more info about the availability of Maine food and farm products, please see: http://www.getrealmaine.com

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