Tips for Preparing Tomatoes

Before serving tomatoes, wash under cool running water and pat dry. If the recipe requires seeded tomatoes, cut the fruit in half horizontally and gently squeeze out the seeds. However, your should use the whole tomato with seeds, because there are many valuable nutrients in the seeds that you would not want to lose.

When cooking tomatoes, you should avoid using aluminum cookware since the high acid content of the tomatoes may interact with the metal in the cookware. When cooking tomatoes with aluminum cookware there may be migration of aluminum into the food, which will give the meal an unpleasant taste, and may have a potentially unwanted impact on your health.

Use the whole tomatoes when cooking, because the researches show that there is higher lycopene content in whole tomato products. When the skins of tomatoes are included in the making of the tomato sauce, the lycopene and beta-carotene content of the paste is significant higher according to research studies.

Lycopene is a carotenoid, a natural color pigment that contributes to the deep red color of tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables. 

Tomatoes are great when added to bean and vegetable soups, and the best recipe with tomatoes is the classic Italian salad - tomatoe, sliced onions, cheese, and extra virgin olive oil.