Cooking, Canning and Freezing Tomatoes IDEAS

For many of us with backyard gardens, summertime means harvesting the fruit of our labor. Tomatoes are often plentiful as they are the favorite of many families and easily grown. If your family has an abundance of fresh tomatoes, here are recipes as well as canning and freezing techniques to help your deal with all those tomatoes.

Canning and Freezing Tomatoes

How to Can Tomatoes
Canning tomatoes can seem intimidating at first, but this step by step guide will have you canning your own tomatoes in no time.

How to Freeze Tomatoes
Fresh tomatoes tend to break up after freezing, but frozen tomatoes are perfect for casseroles and sauces. Here's how to freeze your own tomatoes.

Tomato Recipes

Tomato Salad
Made with red and yellow tomatoes and cucumbers, this easy summertime salad is sure to please your family.

Tomato Soup
A rich and creamy recipe for tomato soup.

Dilly Green Tomatoes
Dill, pickled tomatoes are a great way to use up those small, green tomatoes. Stored in airtight jars, dilly green tomatoes are available all year long.

Spicy Salsa
This spicy and tasty salsa is excellent served with tortilla chips or with your favorite Mexican-food recipe.

Ripe Tomato Preserves
This old-fashioned recipe can be used in recipes calling for canned or crushed tomatoes.

Tomato Dumplings
These tomato dumplings are good as a side dish or a light meal by themselves.

A vegan pizza recipe using fresh tomato and basil as well as plenty of cholesterol-free vegan cheese. This pizza recipe actually calls for rice-based non-dairy cheese, so it's a great recipe to try if you need a dairy-free and soy-free vegan pizza recipe.

Ingredients:

* 1 pre-made pizza crust ( whole wheat)
* 1 tsp olive oil
* 1 tsp chopped garlic
* 1 large tomato, sliced thin
* 5 fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
* 1 tsp oregano
* 3/4 cup vegan pizza sauce
* 1 tsp vegan parmesan cheese
* 2 cups vegan mozzarella flavored cheese

Preparation:

Note: you can add & add & add as much veggies and veggie protein or smoked tofu to your pizza just remember to use more vegan chesse.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Brush pizza crust with olive oil. Spread minced garlic over crust. Top crust with pizza sauce.

Spread 1/2 of the vegan Mozzarella flavored shreds over the sauce, sprinkle with oregano, then top with thinly sliced tomatoes.

Spread remaining shreds over entire pizza, sprinkle with vegan Parmesan cheese and top with torn basil leaves.

Place in oven 10 - 12 minutes or until the vegan cheese is melted.