Green Tomato Green

As the summer growing season winds down, Our Daily Green has a plethora of unripened tomatoes. Beyond the famous fried green tomatoes, we were searching for solutions to our unripened harvest. It may be surprising, but in some ways, a green tomato actually has greater health benefits than a red one.

from Jenny Decker, RN at Emax Health:

The green tomatoes also have about the same amount of beta carotene as a red tomato. Those studying the green tomato found that the chlorophyll that is in the green tomato actually causes the red color from the beta carotene to hide. 

Other green tomato benefits include three times the amount of calcium as the red tomato. They also contain slightly more vitamin C than the red tomato. The red tomato, in comparison, has more folate and more potassium than the green tomato. Any way you want to eat it, you are getting great health benefits from both red and green tomatoes.

One of our first finds was a Green Tomato Cake. After reading the 15 reviews, we decided to give it a shot, as odd as it sounded, as it utilized a number of SuperFoods. The recipe is very similar to a carrot cake we make at the holidays. The recipe is adapted from Diana Rattay, About.com guide to Southern Food.

• 2 1/4 cups sugar 
• 1 cup vegetable oil or melted shortening (we used olive oil) 
• 3 eggs 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla 
• 3 cups flour 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom 
• 1 cup walnuts 
• 2 1/2 cups diced green tomatoes 
• coconut 

Preparation: Preheat oven to 350°. In mixing bowl, beat sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg; slowly beat into egg mixture. Blend well. Stir in walnuts and tomatoes. Pour into greased 9x13-inch pan. Top with coconut if desired. Bake for one hour, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

A little trivia: Tomatoes ripen from the inside out!

Please share some of your favorite things to do with green tomatoes!
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