Here's what to do with all those green tomatoes

At the end of the growing season, most gardners find their tomato plants hanging on to a few late-season fruits that will never turn red. Rather than turn those green tomatoes into compost, consider chopping them into a green tomato salsa or cooking them up as the famous fried green tomatoes of movie-and-novel fame.

Many Northwest Corner growers have produced a bumper crop this year. The season was particularly good, with just enough wet days and just enough dry ones. Chances are that you have more tomatoes than normal on your vines (or that friends and neighbors are bringing them over as "gifts").

Ripe tomatoes freeze well. Put the fruit whole in the freezer in a freezer bag. It will retain its flavor and, when thawed, the skin will slip off easily.

Use green tomatoes immediately. As they sit, they begin to turn red and lose their distinctive tart flavor. If they must be stored, keep them in the crisper drawer in the refrigerator for a couple of days. Bring them back to room temperature before cooking.

Tomatoes, red or green, are nutritional powerhouses, packing tons of antioxidents. The most celebrated is lycopene, which has been shown to reduce the danger of heart attack and to help in the fight against cancer. Lycopene becomes easier to digest when cooked, making green tomatoes an excellent source for more lycopene —especially as green tomatoes really should not be eaten raw (they contain a toxin called tomatine that is killed by cooking).

Other nutrients found in tomatoes include lutein, which helps vision and fights age-related macular degeneration; folates, which protect against birth defects and lower the risk of colon cancer; and vitamin C (though this vitamin is damaged by heat, so don’t rely on green tomatoes to fulfill the daily recommended allowance).

For a different spin on green tomatoes, try this recipe for caramelized tomatoes, adapted from a recipe by Donna Hay, author of "Flavors." The orginal recipe calls for red tomatoes, but green tomatoes are actually superior for this recipe: They hold together better when cooked, and don’t melt into a pudding as their riper counterparts would do.