by Sidonie Maroon, abluedotkitchen.com

Summer’s gone, and I doubt that many more of my tomatoes will ripen on the vine. So, what to do with all the green tomatoes? I could try to ripen them inside, and have had boxes of molding fruit and fruit fly infestations in past years, but not my idea of a good time. I need a plan, a great green tomato campaign, short but sweet.

The first part of my plan was to find out the possibilities? I scanned the web, but it’s redundant with fried green tomatoes and green tomato salsa. I reached out to “Cooking with the Coop” Facebook group, which I moderate. It stumped them past the standards. Then, a few days ago, while standing outside staring at volunteer cherry tomatoes growing in a pile of rocks by my back door, a sunken treasure emerged. I smiled as the memory bubbled to the surface — I own a cookbook on that subject! I hunted through my weird little off the beaten track cookbooks amongst the culinary giants. And there it was. “The Green Tomato Cookbook” written by Paula Simmons in 1975. It was a slim paperback, with a huge hand drawn lime green tomato on the cover. The binding glue cracking as I opened it to the table of contents. Everything about it took me back in time — the use of margarine, soy grits (does anyone use soy grits anymore?) and bouillon cubes.

The table of contents was inspiring. The author had done her work and expanded the possibilities for green tomato cookery: Breads and wine, cakes, cookies, pies and desserts, casseroles, pickles and relish, vegetables and side dishes. My mind was already buzzing with ideas; a green tomato cake! Pie! Quick bread! Maybe I could use green tomatoes like we use grated zucchini? Maybe like we use apple sauce? Maybe in slices like an apple pie? I liked the green tomato casserole idea.

I read Paula Simmons’s hints section and came away with the idea to grind the tomatoes into a slurry. She also mentioned making a green tomato mincemeat to freeze and use in pies, cakes and breads throughout the winter. That sounded interesting.

I immediately got to work experimenting with a big bowl of green tomatoes I’d harvested. First, I chopped some and then ground them in the food processor into a chunky sauce. I made this into a walnut herb flatbread that was a big hit for dinner.

Next, I tried blanching the green tomatoes to remove the skins. The skins left an odd taste in my mouth. I dumped those roly polies into boiling water for 5 minutes and the skins came off with little effort. It was easy and the flavor much better, mild without an aftertaste. I made a savory/sweet mincemeat crumble with dates, raisins and walnuts. The family gave that one a thumb’s up.

The next day, I made a pinto bean, quinoa, veggie casserole with an herby green tomato sauce. We all loved this one, and I’ll definitely make it again.

I’m eager to try some lacto-fermented green tomato pickles. A cake sounds fun. I love those disguised vegetable cakes. You bite into a delicious cake and find out its beets or black beans, well why not green tomatoes?

Summing up my green tomato investigation

Definitely blanch and take off the skins

Grinding into a chunky sauce makes sense and would be a good way to freeze for future use.

Use green tomatoes as a background for other flavors.

Use pureed green tomatoes as the liquid or sauce portion of baked goods

Easy to use with lots and lots of possibilities: Soups, stews, sauce, desserts, relish, pickles…

What an adventure, and now I know so much more about how to use green tomatoes.

Green Tomato Flatbread

Gluten, grain and dairy free

Makes 9 x 12 inch flatbread

A delicious way to use green tomatoes. This herby flavorful flatbread is easy to make without using grains or dairy. Serve with dips and spreads or a bowl of soup.

Ingredients

Baking Flour (You will grind your own flour mix!)

1/2 cup pre-washed quinoa

1/4 cup amaranth seed

1/4 cup raw chickpeas

1/4 cup raw buckwheat groats

2 tbsp flax meal

1 tbsp psyllium seed husk powder

1/4 cup dehydrated onion flakes

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

Wet ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 and 1/4 cups ground green tomatoes with juice

Additions

1 tsp fresh

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried marjoram

1 tsp dried sage

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup toasted walnuts chopped

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 375 F

2) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3) Using a Vitamix or high-powered blender, grind the baking flour ingredients into a flour on high speed. Sift the flour and regrind the siftings. Add them to the flour.

4) Dump the baking mix into a mixing bowl and stir in the additional ingredients.

5) Mix the wet ingredients together and stir into dry ingredients until well blended. Pour 2 teaspoons of olive oil onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Pour the batter onto the sheet and smooth out into an approx. 9x12 inch rectangle. Bake on a middle rack for 25 minutes. Cool to warm before slicing.

Green Tomato and Pinto Bean Casserole

Gluten, grain and dairy free

Makes a large 9x13-in casserole

A family pleaser, and a good way to use up green tomatoes and leftover quinoa and beans. I make the quinoa in a rice cooker, and pinto beans in an Instant Pot ahead of time.

Quinoa: 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water with a pinch of salt. Regular rice cycle.

Pinto Beans: 2 cups dry pinto beans with 6 cups water and 1 teaspoon sea salt for 45 minutes on high pressure with a natural release.

Ingredients

3 cups cooked quinoa

2 cups cooked pinto beans

2 stalks celery, cut into a medium dice

2 carrots, cut into a medium dice

2 medium zucchini, cut into a medium dice

1 red sweet pepper, cut into a medium dice

1 cup mixed herbs such as parsley fennel, marjoram or basil, chopped

1 large yellow onion, cut into a medium dice

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups green tomato, pureed with:

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup enchilada sauce

1 tbsp toasted cumin

1 tsp coriander seed

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

Directions

1) Oil a 9x13 inch rectangular casserole.

2) In a large saute pan, saute the onion for 8 minutes in the olive oil. Add the celery and carrots and saute for another 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and continue to saute for another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another 2 minutes.

3) Puree the green tomatoes with the herbs, spices, salt and apple cider vinegar into a slurry.

4) Preheat oven to 375°

5) Layer the casserole, starting with all the quinoa. Add ½ of the vegetable saute, a pinto bean layer, then the remaining vegetables. Pour the green sauce over the top and move a spoon into the layers so that the sauce penetrates into the casserole. Smooth the top and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Serve hot.