It’s September, and the variety of in season fresh fruits and vegetables is still bountiful. Tomatoes are not only delicious and incredibly versatile players in all sorts of dishes and cuisines, they are packed with health-boosting powers; they aid heart health and are good source of fiber.  Before you can all your tomatoes for the winter, we rounded up some tomato recipes to show you its versatility.  It can be used in so many other ways besides the ones we grew up thinking about (ahem! salad or tomato sauce).  Due to the fact that it can balance so many flavors; it can be dressed up or down and made sweet or savory.

Did You Know?  Fun Food Facts on Tomatoes

• Scientifically, a tomato is a fruit because it has seeds.  However, by U.S. law, a tomato is a vegetable. In 1883, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to classify the tomato as a vegetable, and not the technical botanical classification. In other words, the U.S. Supreme Court wanted to call the tomato a vegetable so that they could continue to charge a tax for them; in 1880s the United States had a 10% tax on imported vegetables but not fruits.
• Americans consume about 80 pounds of tomatoes a year.
• California produces nearly half of the world's tomatoes, making it the largest grower of tomatoes in the world.
• According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there are 25,000 tomato varieties!

For creative ideas on how to prepare tomatoes, check out some of these Asian recipes:

Thai Drunken Noodles are a Thai restaurant classic of spicy, pan-fried, flat, rice noodles, sauteed in spicy basil sauce.  Learn how to easily recreate this Thai restaurant favorite at home.

Forget about ketchup or BBQ sauce.  Try Chili and Tomato Dip (Nam Phrik Num); this popular dipping sauce in Thailand that is often served with barbecued meats. 

As far back as we have records, Hawaiians have been combining fresh fish with a bit of salt, tomato and onion, massaging (lomi lomi) them together to bring out the flavors.

Spicy, yet cool, bibim naengmyeon is the perfect thing for a hot day.

Related: All tomato recipes on Asian Supper!

What's your favorite way to prepare yummy tomatoes?