A chef's guide to getting the most from tomatoes

Tomatoes are readily available, delicious and nutritious. Here's some tips for buying, storing and using tomatoes to get the most nutrients possible.

• Tomatoes are in the market throughout the year, but summer is the best time to buy and enjoy fresh tomatoes from local growers.
• You can also grow your own in most climates.
• Choose firm, ripe, evenly shaped, deeply coloured tomatoes with no tears or bruises in the skin. Ripe tomatoes have a very distinctive earthy fragrance.
• The best farmers' markets and shops that specialize in organically-grown produce are most likely to have the sweetest, juiciest tomatoes.

• Always store tomatoes at room temperature. Refrigeration destroys a tomato's taste and texture.
• Store any slightly underripe tomatoes in a brown paper bag to ripen them and improve their flavour.

• Use a sharp, serrated knife to slice tomatoes.
• To remove seeds, cut the tomato in half and gently squeeze out seeds and liquid.

• Tomatoes can be halved and barbecued.
• Try roasting them in a hot oven until they start to shrivel, 10 to 15 minutes. Don't overcook them or they will collapse.
• Large varieties can be stuffed.
• Most tomatoes are used to make sauce. They're also used in soups, stews, casseroles and sautés and eaten raw in salads.
• Cherry and pear tomatoes are served on vegetable appetizer platters, and make a simple and tasty snack.

• Cook fresh tomatoes with sugar, cinnamon and orange zest to make a savoury jam.
• Combine tomato juice with an equal amount of carrot juice and chill. Garnished with chopped fresh tomato and a dollop of yogurt, this serves as a refreshing soup.
• To give a nutritional boost to savoury soups, replace half of the water with tomato juice.
• Make a quick sauce for pasta salad by combining tomato paste, tomato juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and chopped fresh basil.

• Lycopene-rich food may protect against prostate cancer.
• In a six-year study of 48,000 men who consumed 10 or more servings per week of tomato products, participants had a 45 percent reduction in prostate cancer.

Packed into one medium tomato:

• about 25 calories
• more than one third the daily requirement for vitamin C
• sight-protective lutein and zeaxanthin that help stave off vision loss
• beta-carotene that's converted to vitamin A in the body
• a phytochemical called lycopene that fights prostate cancer
• anti-cancer chemicals caffeic, ferulic and chlorogenic acids

Versatile and easy to find, tomatoes should be a bigger part of anyone's diets. Not just for their taste, but for the many nutrients they can provide.

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