Tomatoes

A wicker basket filled with fresh plum tomatoes. Photo Credit Diana Taliun/iStock/Getty Images

Bright, red, plump, fresh, juicy tomatoes. Picture perfect.

Is it a fruit? Is it a vegetable? Or something else?

Eat ‘em raw or eat ‘em cooked,

Turn ‘em into salads and you’ll be hooked!

Wow! That was impromptu Poetry.. (I swear)!

But basically, tomatoes are delicious whichever way you prefer them. Scientifically, they are a fruit.

Like onions, tomatoes are another basic in cooking. They are versatile. Use them in:

Salads

Chutneys

Sauces

Curries

Nostalgic Anecdote:

If you’ve read about me here, you would know that I used to be one huge Enid Blyton fan. And if you’ve read Enid Blyton’s books, especially Famous Five, you would know how much the five used to eat all the time - breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner! Every time there was a mention of food, my mouth would salivate (even though I am a vegetarian!). For the poor souls unaware of Ms. Blyton’s gastronomic descriptions, here’s an abstract from “Five Go Down to the Sea”:

The high tea that awaited them was truly magnificent. A huge ham gleaming as pink as Timmy’s tongue; a salad fit for a king. In fact, as Dick said, fit for several kings, it was so enormous. It had in it everything that anyone could possibly want. “Lettuce, tomatoes, onions, radishes, mustard and cress, carrot grated up – that is carrot, isn’t it, Mrs. Penruthlan?” said Dick. “And lashings of hard-boiled eggs.” There was an enormous tureen of new potatoes, all gleaming with melted butter, scattered with parsley. There was a big bottle of home-made salad cream. “Look at that cream cheese, too,” marvelled Dick, quite overcome. “And that fruit cake. And are those drop-scones, or what? Are we supposed to have something of everything, Mrs Penruthlan?”

This article from theguardian or this one gives a spectacular insight into the Five’s diet! 

I am deviating from the topic, aren’t I? Sigh! I am actually ravenous after reading all that!

Sooo… tomatoes! Tomatoes always, always remind me of a hearty Famous Five breakfast.

Aha.. how do tomatoes fare nutrition-wise?

Good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Potassium and Manganese. More info here.

Who should not eat?

As I mentioned in my onion post, onions and tomatoes don’t tune well with gastroesophageal reflux disease (Acid Reflux) patients. If you are prone to acidity, you should definitely avoid eating tomatoes because they are naturally high in acid content and can cause the stomach acid to regurgitate and cause a burning feeling.

Also, canned tomatoes (a common sight in today’s households) have a very high content of sodium compared to fresh tomatoes. High sodium increases risk of Osteoporosis (weak bones). Also avoid canned tomatoes if you are a heart patient or suffer from high blood pressure.

And as always, I urge you to please decrease your dependence on processed foods and eat as much fresh produce as possible and slowly aim towards eliminating processed foods from your diets!

On that note, Eat fresh tomatoes and stay healthy (not you GERD people – you don’t eat ‘em)!