I’ve recently rediscovered tomatoes.  No scrap that, I’ve discovered tomatoes.  Tomatoes were my hated food as a child, my nemesis on the dinner plate.

Fortunately by the time adulthood arrived, my nemesis and I had come to a mutual agreement where we were able tolerate each other.  We even began to like each other.  In the last month or so, a thing of beauty has happened.  I think we are now inseparable.  Bonded for life.  I have discovered the deliciousness that is the tomato.  The variety of tomatoes available at my local grocer has just boomed.  No longer are tomatoes limited to cherry, grape, roma, truss and the ‘normal’ variety (probably just called a tomato!).  There are yellow ones, Kumato (the greenish ones), medleys, oxheart and brands such as Johnny Love Bites.  My favourite are oxheart tomatoes.  The odd shapes and random sizes are appealing to the eye and each is equally plump and ripe as the next.  Ignoring the actual definition of a fruit, I now understand from a taste perspective why a tomato is a fruit.  I am also fondly reminded of words of those wiser than myself saying, ‘when I was young, tomatoes had flavour, none of this bland, watery stuff’.  I feel as though I’ve stepped back into the past, tasting a tomato for the very first time.

Tomatoes are also quite the healthy food to have a love affair with.  They contain only 74 kJ and 2.4 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams (about the size of medium tomato).  The same tomato also contains 40% of the Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) of vitamin C for an adult.  Tomatoes are also rich in lycopene which is associated with reduced risk of prostate cancer, therefore I encourage serving some extra tomatoes to your near and dear males.  In addition to simply eating tomatoes, here are a couple of ways that I like to enjoy tomatoes:

Zucchini pasta with tomato and basil (contains about 200 grams of tomatoes per serve)

Tuna with tri coloured salad (contains 150 grams of tomatoes per serve)

What favourite foods have you rediscovered (or discovered) recently?