Using left over tomatoes from your garden

This will also be in Becky Holm's Douglas County News.

Judging by recent cool nights and morning fog, tomato season will be over in a week. If you have quite a bit of fruit on your vines, you will like the ideas below.


I really dislike commercial tomato soup, but homemade is wonderful and leftovers freeze well. Blend tomatoes – some can be over or under ripe – thoroughly in a blender. Add red bell peppers if you have them. Add chopped onions, dried basil and garlic. Transfer to a non-aluminum pot and cook down. Add salt, dry mustard, hot sauce or pepper to taste. Let cool. Reblend with approximately ¼ cup of oat, chickpea or wheat flour per four cups of liquid. Reheat and top each bowl with a dollop of sour cream if you like.

Salsa verde is traditionally made with tomatillos, but if you use green tomatoes, I won’t tell anyone. It also freezes well. Either drop the tomatoes quickly in boiling water, remove them and skin them before chopping or blend them so you don’t notice the skins. Place tomatoes in a non-aluminum pot, add onions, chopped bell or hot peppers, cilantro, a little lime zest and salt. Boil down. Cool and add chopped avocado right before serving.