Tomatoes are not for having many nutritional benefits. It is known for being a rich source of lycopene, which has been proven to help in keeping a healthy heart and also give antioxidant benefits. Tomatoes are also known for giving your skin a healthy glow and tomato juice can easily cure a wicket hangover. Tomatoes are also quite easy to cultivate. You can easily plant them in your backyard and after a short time you can reap the fruits of your labor and enjoy fresh tomatoes picked from your tomato plant. Tomatoes are most abundant during the summer season and for people who may have had a bumper crop of tomatoes they may be left with too much. What you can do with excess tomatoes is to preserve them, and it doesn’t matter if they are still green. You can still preserve them.
First, you need to remove the stems from the green tomatoes. Check them out and make sure that the fruits are still firm and free from blemishes. Of course, you should make sure that they are insect-free. Wrap the green tomatoes in newspapers. Do this individually for each fruit. Put the wrapped tomatoes together in a basket or crate and put it in a cool, dry and dark place in your home. This process will help hasten the ripening of the tomatoes and in just a few days it will turn red, which indicates that it is already ripe.
If you are not too keen on ripening the tomatoes you have you can still preserve them through refrigeration. Wash the green tomatoes and dry them. Slice the fruits into one-inch thick slices crosswise. Put the sliced tomatoes on flat try and put it in the freezer. After they have completely frozen, put them inside a freezer bag. These frozen green tomatoes are perfect for fried green tomatoes or as an ingredient in salsa. It can also be used as a pasta sauce or as the main ingredient in a green tomato casserole.
Finally, you can turn the green tomatoes into pickles. Use some sterilized jars and put the tomatoes in it, making sure that it is packed. Now boil a mixture that consists of one quart vinegar and two quarts water and one cup pickling salt and some dill. After five minutes turn the heat off. Pour the mixture into the jar making sure to fill it until there is only a half-inch left to the top. Screw on the lids and put the jars in a pot of water and boil for about fifteen minutes. After this step remove the bottles and allow it to cool. You’ll have delicious tomato dill pickles in about a month and a half.
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