Tomatoes: low in calories and tasty

Refreshing to perfection, the tomato is rich in water (94.3 g/100 g) and low in calories (20 kcal/100 g). And she has good taste: it contains, in fact, fructose and glucose (carbohydrates) (3 g/100 g) that give it its sweetness. Its tangy flavor comes from, in turn, organic acids (citric acid and malic acid) it contains.

During maturation, the rate of organic acids in tomatoes decreases while that of carbohydrates increases. Thus, ripe tomatoes you find in high season (August to October) are sweet and fruity, and those are rather bland early.

Vitamin C, carotenoids: a vegetable bursting with color

While participating in a balanced diet, the tomato provides a good dose of vitamins. Per 100 g, contains 16.7 mg of vitamin C and its rate up to 20 mg depending on the maturity of the vegetable. By eating four to five tomatoes a day, you cover your daily need for vitamin C (110 mg for adults and adolescents, 60 to 100 mg for children)!

Lycopene, the antioxidant-waiting

The tomato also contains carotenoids (3 mg/100 g), specifically lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. “This prevents the free radicals that promote premature aging of cells, to grow and prevents arthritis, stroke, cardiovascular disease …” says Charlotte Ringan, dietician in Paris.

And, unlike other nutrients in tomatoes, which reads down with cooking, lycopene is released from cells of the tomato heat. Feel free to eat more juice, soups or sauces tomato!

Prefer red tomatoes!

When choosing tomatoes, make sure that they are neither too firm nor too soft, especially bright red, a sign of maturity. Know that you will find the best tomatoes from August until September-October, depending on the year.
 
The culinary use you want to do depend on their size and variety. Salad, opt for small vine tomatoes, very fragrant. If you want to stuff them, prefer ribbed or beef heart. More fleshy, the latter also blend well with the mozzarella for preparing raw because they are juicy and tasty.

To make sauce, choose red tomatoes basic (jacket, retort the Andes …). To nibble with a drink, turn to cherry tomatoes, sweeter.

At room temperature or in refrigerator

If you enjoy your tomatoes quickly, leave them in a bowl at room temperature. For longer storage (ten days), place them on paper towels in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator.

Depending on how you use them, you can also freeze your tomatoes. Either as such, in freezer bags for the show throughout the year, blanched and peeled, to integrate them into sauces, pies …

However, be aware that the cold degrades the taste of tomatoes …
To keep all the benefits of the tomato, nothing like a gazpacho. As an aperitif, as an appetizer or light meal, the sun smells good in your kitchen!

Serves 4

- 4 large tomatoes
- A quarter of a cucumber
- 1 red pepper
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- Juice of half a lemon
- 2 tbsp. tablespoons olive oil
- Olive oil
- Salt, pepper, Espelette.

Preparation

- Peel, seed the tomatoes and peppers, then cut into small pieces.
- Peel and seed the cucumber, cut into small cubes.
- Peel onion and cut it into strips.
- Finally, peel and finely chop the garlic.

- Place vegetables in a blender with the lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, salt, pepper and Espelette.
- Mix it all until a homogeneous mixture, without lumps.
- Place in a bowl or large pitcher. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside four hours in the refrigerator before serving chilled.