I like to eat tomatoes plain, or dress them up with some simple sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil on toasted bread. Tomatoes are easy to take along for lunch, a snack, or a picnic. Little nuggets of juicy goodness. And they’re really good for you, too.
When they’re not in season, I still enjoy tomatoes year round. Stewed in a hearty pasta sauce, or as a sun-dried topping on my favourite food in the whole world: pizza. (Think tomatoes have anything to do with my pizza addiction? Yes, they certainly do.)
Buying Tips: Tomatoes should be somewhat firm yet yield to the touch. Choose the reddest, ripest tomatoes you can find for the most nutritional value, and then eat them right away. Avoid tomatoes that are going soft, wrinkly, or that have cracks or bruises. (If it’s just a small bruise and the rest is fine, you can get away with slicing off the bad part.)
Spinach is my favourite vegetable. I can’t get enough of it. Of course, I enjoy the usual spinach salad, which can easily be dressed up with nuts, even sunflower and pumpkin seeds. For a heartier salad, add some crumbled or grated cheese, and diced bacon or prosciutto. In the summer, try spinach salad with dried cranberries or other fruit, crumbled goat cheese, and top with raspberry vinaigrette.
But it doesn’t stop there. I really enjoy hot spinach dishes too. Spinach steamed with butter, salt, and garlic: yum. Spinach is also so easy to add to omelettes and other egg dishes. And of course, I like to put it on my homemade pizza!
Buying Tips: Look for plump, fresh-looking leaves that are a dark, even green. Smaller leaves (baby spinach) tend to have a sweeter flavour than larger ones. Avoid any spinach that is turning yellow or that have started to go slimy. These are past their prime.
- Anna
Anna Wallner (left) & Kristina Matisic are journalists, shopaholics, and hosts of the cookbook and product testing series Anna & Kristina’s Grocery Bag, airing on W Network in Canada and OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) in the USA. You may also know them from their original series, The Shopping Bags, and their fashion & beauty series, Anna & Kristina’s Beauty Call.
Read more about Anna & Kristina and all of their product reviews at http://www.annaandkristina.com/. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________