Give your tomatoes a second chance with easy meal ideas.
I hope you’re cooking with tomatoes like crazy right now while they’re tangy, juicy, and sweet. But what do we do with the extra tomatoes and fresh produce we’ve harvested or bought at the stores and markets this time of year? I think about this a lot, and I have difficulty wasting any groceries, especially when so many Canadians cannot access the food they need.
In fact, this was the impetus for Second Harvest’s world-first research, “The Avoidable Crisis of Food Waste,” where we follow a tomato on her journey from farm to landfill. Asking the questions…How did it get wasted? Where did the supply chain break down? What happened at home? At what stages were the tomatoes considered not good enough, and why are we throwing them away?
At Second Harvest, we rescue and redistribute food from food businesses into the hands of non-profits and charities providing Canadians with healthy perishable food. But I’m also passionate about ensuring that everyone can use all the food they buy. It is within our control to save money, stretch food into culinary treasures, and preserve nutrients. So, if you’re up to your neck in tomatoes, here are some easy and delicious ways to use them before they go bad.
TIPS FOR STORING TOMATOES THAT WILL HELP THEM LAST LONGER
- Ripe tomatoes can be left on the counter, lasting for approximately 5-7 days without spoiling.
- Keep them at room temperature, away from direct sunlight and in a dry area.
- Do not store tomatoes in a plastic bag.
- Avoid stacking tomatoes. The pressure causes bruising, which allows bacteria to cause mould.
- Lay tomatoes out individually and keep their stems pointed upwards.
- If you have lots and lots of tomatoes, are going on vacation for a few days or won’t be able to consume them soon, store them in your fridge’s produce drawer. This is a last resort as it changes the texture and flavour, but it does extend their life by up to two weeks.
- For unripe tomatoes, place them stem-side down in a box or paper bag in a cool space until they turn red.
Choose the right tomato for the right job
- Use ripe tomatoes in season to slice for sandwiches.
- Cherry or cocktail tomatoes have multi-purposes: add them to salads, cook, dry or freeze.
- Roma tomatoes last a long time, but for cooking only, they are low in water content.
The wrinkling of tomatoes indicates that the skin is toughening as the tomato ages and begins to dehydrate. It is safe to consume if there are no mouldy patches or unpleasant odours, and the tomato has not started to rot.
Lori Nikkel is the CEO of Second Harvest, Canada’s largest food rescue organization and a global thought leader on perishable food redistribution. She encourages everyone to shop the sales, the “just past perfect” foods, and share ideas on reducing food waste.
