Fried Green Tomatoes

  Since tomatoes are now coming in from my little garden, I decided to fry up some of the green ones today. When made right, fried green tomatoes taste better then candy, and these are really good. I used whole wheat flour along with cornmeal, a small amount of sugar, and just a dash of salt, and lightly pan fried them in heart healthy vegetable oil. Draining on a wire rack helps to avoid sogginess. This recipe makes a lot of the coating, but it can be halved if needed. 

Ingredients:

4 to 5 green tomatoes, sliced

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons sugar

dash of salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions: 

Put cornmeal, flour, sugar, and salt on a dinner plate and stir together with a fork until well combined. 

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. 

Dredge sliced tomatoes in coating and fry on both sides until light brown. 

Place fried tomatoes on a wire rack to drain and cool. Eat within a few minutes of cooking.

Tomato Garden

  This an update on two previous posts about gardening and my delightful tomato plants. I'm still waiting on the cantaloupes to grow, and the raspberries and cherries unfortunately didn't make it. However, I do have a wonderful harvest of fresh heirloom tomatoes! 

  The ripe tomatoes are perfect for slicing on sandwiches and salads, or to eat fresh. I fried up some of the green tomatoes today (recipe and picture to follow)! 

Tomatoes!

  In early June I planted a flowerpot garden on the back deck of my house. Two of the tomato plants have grown really well, and they smell delightful. I had planted four tomato plants, but lost two of them because I planted them too deep and the stems rotted. The two that survived have some small green tomatoes on them now. The plants require a lot of water and some plant food. They are in a nice sunny spot where they can grow.

  I started the cantaloupes from seeds, and they are flowering nicely. I'm eager for some fresh cantaloupe. 

  I also planted a raspberry plant and some cherry pits in the two empty pots. We'll have to wait and see if they do any good, though.

Flowering cantaloupe plants.

Cantaloupe plants.

Little green tomatoes growing!

Gardening

  Yesterday I planted four heirloom tomato plants and a packet of cantaloupe seeds in flower pots. I know it's a little late in the season to be starting a garden, but the plants look like they will do fine. Plus, everything was on sale! 
  Since I'm new to gardening, and don't have a good history of a green thumb, I used the flower pots, rather than tilling up a place in the yard. This makes the plants easier to manage, and more convenient to water. 
  In just a few weeks, I should have lots of yummy tomatoes and cantaloupes. I used heirloom tomato plants because, let's face it, what else is there? Heirloom tomatoes are so much juicer and flavorful than anything available in stores. When people tell me they don't like tomatoes, I always tell them it's because they haven't had an heirloom tomato. Cantaloupes ripened in the sun and picked on a nice warm day always taste better, too. 
  I'm looking forward to enjoying some fresh tomatoes and cantaloupes. I'll post more pictures when the harvest comes in! 

Heirloom tomato plants.

Cantaloupe and heirloom tomato plants.