Vegan MoFo Day 29: Green Tomatoes

Heeding warnings of cold temperatures, we harvested all the remaining frost-vulnerable items from our little backyard garden, including a bunch of green tomatoes. When I was a kid, we would put all our green tomatoes in paper grocery sacks in the basement and they would slowly ripen. I am more likely to turn these into fried green tomatoes.



There are a number of different fried green tomoato philosophies. Lately, I have seen many FGTs that are completely encased in a cornmeal crust. Beyond the fact that these are likely to involve eggs (and thus be non-vegan), such a complete shell is contrary to the way I learned to make them. (I am equally opposed to encased okra.)



To make fried green tomatoes, my way, do this: Slice tomatoes, and toss with a mix of equal parts flour and cornmeal, with some salt and pepper. You can add other seasonings, and I often go for thyme and cayenne. Fry in a hot cast iron skillet with a thin layer of oil, until well-browned on each side.


I would be tempted to make a green tomato pie, but we have been very over-sugared of late (tester cookies and a delicious pear crisp from The Joy of Vegan Baking). If you are interested, most traditional green tomato pie recipes are easy to veganize, requiring only a substitution of vegan margarine or oil for butter - for example, this recipe looks very similar to that made by relatives of mine.