Slicing Tomatoes 101

What to look for when selecting: Tomatoes that are brightly hued, plump and without bruises or blemishes are best. They should be firm, but not rock hard and have a nice, earthy tomato smell. They should be heavy for their size, as ripe tomatoes will have more water content. Be sure to watch for bruises or holes in your tomatoes as they will decay quickly. Avoid these ones at the grocery store.

Tips:
- Only cut with a serrated blade.
- Tomatoes carry a lot of juice, which can cause a soggy sandwich – especially if you don’t eat it right away.  To prevent this, bring tomatoes in a separate container and put them on your sandwich right before eating. For salads, add them at the end to prevent them from diluting the dressing.

How to prepare:
Tomatoes are extremely versatile since they can be eaten fresh, in sauces, soup, salad, or even stir-fry! Wash tomatoes in cold water.
To prepare tomato slices for sandwiches, slice them horizontally with a very sharp knife (serrated/bread knives are the best). Dull knives may squish tomatoes instead of cleanly slicing through the skin.

For soups or sauces, you may want to remove the tomato skin by first scoring the bottom of the tomato with an X, then blanching in boiling water quickly for about 30 seconds. Remove and place immediately in an ice bath. Once blanched, the tomato skins loosen and are easily peeled off; now they’re ready for use in sauces or soup!
For salad (or even stir fry), slice the tomatoes in half vertically and cut the stem out by slicing a V around the hard part of the stem. Continue to slice in wedges, perfect for eating on their own, in salad, or tossing in the last couple minutes of cooking a stir-fry.