When you think about most every Mexican dish we Americans have come to love, one of the most common denominators in each recipe is Mexican cheese. Mexican cheese is delicious and especially wonderful to cook with. Here is a little information about a number of traditional Mexican cooking cheeses.

Añejo

It has a traditional brick red, colorful exterior that is formed by rolling the cheese in paprika. This adds extra spicy flavor to the already salty, sharp cheese, making it somewhat similar to Parmesan cheese or Romano cheese. Añejo means “aged” in Spanish. When fresh and young, the cheese is crumbly and breaks into small pieces very easily. As it ages, the cheese becomes firmer, allowing it to be easily shredded or grated. It is frequently used in baking and grilling, particularly in making burritos, enchiladas and tacos.

Asadero

An off-white, semi-firm Mexican cheese often sold in a log shape for convenient and easy slicing. It is an excellent cooking cheese: when it melts, it becomes quite creamy without giving off any oil, even at higher temperatures. It has a light, fresh taste with just a bit of tang to it. It is very creamy, and layered almost like fresh Mozzarella. In some parts of Chihuahua, in the Northern part of Mexico, a plant is used to curdle the milk instead of animal rennet.

Chihuahua

Named for the Mexican state from which it originates, this cheese is also sometimes referred to as queso menonita, for the Mennonite farmers who first made this cheese. When fresh, it resembles a mild Cheddar in taste and texture. As it ages, its flavor becomes tangy. You can grate it to top dishes, or stuff it into chile rellanos or tamales.

Cotija

This strong-flavored cheese is sold aged, making it a bit dry, salty, and almost granular in texture. Often served crumbled, Cotija doesn't melt so much as soften.

Queso Fresco

The name means "fresh cheese." With its crumbly texture and slightly acidic flavor, it can be crumbled atop beans, salads, or even rice dishes. Queso Fresco is probably the most common Mexican cheese found in Mexico, as well as the U.S. In some regional areas of Mexico, the cheese curds are still ground on a metate then hand pressed into round molds. Sadly, most the versions in the U.S. are not made of whole milk so they tend not to melt very well.  In Mexico, the cheese is used to stuff chiles or for quesadillas.

 

Queso de Oaxaca

Is a Mexican name for a semi-soft, white, string-type cheese made from cow's milk. Similar to a Mozzarella, Oaxaca is a stretched curd cheese, kneaded and sold in long ropes gently wound in balls. One of the artisanal cheeses, Oaxaca has savory, mellow, buttery flavor, and is a great melting cheese. The little salty and mild flavor make it is one of the most popular cheeses for preparing quesadillas. In addition, Oaxaca is an excellent stuffing cheese in baking recipes.

Queso Panela

This white, fresh and smooth cheese is similar to Indian paneer. Panela has a soft and creamy texture and a delicious fresh milk flavor. When heated, it will soften but not melt or lose its shape. Also, the cheese absorbs flavors easily and at times is sold covered with garlic or pepper paste. It will turn a golden brown when seared as well as crumble easily on appetizers such as quesadillas. Panela tastes excellent on its own as a fried cheese, but is served most often as part of appetizer dishes such as nopal salads.

Earlier this year we told you that new things were coming to Prisco’s, and you have probably seen some signs of that throughout our store. For example, have you noticed the wide assortment of beautiful, fresh cut flowers that greet you as you enter the store? My sister Bridget recently took over the task of improving our selection of flora and the response has been tremendous. 

In our meat department we have been adding new items almost every week, from gourmet hamburgers to fresh made shish kebabs and two types of pinwheel flank steaks.  Keep watching for additional selections for meat and fresh seafood rolling out throughout the coming months. Next week, come check out a fantastic chicken sausage that Chris and I developed. We utilized the classic yet powerful Mediterranean flavors of spinach and feta combined with a Moroccan spice profile, and tossed in Villa Sonia Pinot Grigio for good measure. The result is a savory yet refreshing combination that will be sure to have you begging for more.

A big part of the charm of our store is that it’s small and relatively easy to navigate.  Our size can be both a blessing and a curse but we are certain it’s much more the former.  Because our size limits our ability to carry the full breadth of items offered in the large chain and box stores, we need to be very prudent in what items we place on our shelves day-in and day-out.  In the grocery department (in the center of our store), our plan is to begin by becoming more selective of the products on our shelves.   We are working on making room for the more in-demand, uniquely delicious and healthy items, as well as offerings from local producers that help keep quality products as well as jobs right here in our neighborhoods. 

For example, rather than carry two, three, and even four sizes of the same ketchup, we will be opting to keep the most popular size (or two) and replace the discontinued items with products that are truly different.  As many of you recall, we used to consider our store an Italian specialty grocer and therefore had a very large selection of pasta, pasta sauce, and canned tomatoes.  Over time, however, we realize that our neighborhood has changed and the demand for healthy, ethnically diverse, locally crafted products, and foods for special dietary needs (such as reduced gluten, organic, non-gmo) are what YOU are looking for.   We will continue to serve our community in this regard by reshaping our center-store offerings.

Currently, our plan is to begin to cut back somewhat on the Italian specialty items in aisle #3 and reuse some of that underperforming shelf space to expand sections like Asian foods, which in one of the fastest growing categories in the food industry today. Don’t fear that your favorites will disappear, though. The fantastic products that we have and continue to endorse (such as Barilla) will still be available in their full selection.  As we work our way through this project, which will take several months to complete, we would really love to hear your feedback. 

Although we are doing our best not to discontinue any items that are favorites on your shopping list, please let us know if you find something that you bought in the past and want to be able to find at Prisco’s that is no longer available.   Another thing that you can do that would be most helpful is to let us know about new items or categories which you have an interest in.  After all, we don’t bring in items hoping to convince you to purchase them: We know we can be much more successful if we bring in items which you would like to buy conveniently at our store.

I’m looking forward to hearing your feedback and can’t wait to see your smiling faces in the aisles!

Cheers!

Andy Guzauskas – General Manager

Last February we celebrated Chinese New Year with a two week Asian food fair. A short time later we stuffed our cheeks with sweet Paczki treats in honor of our friends from Poland; and in March everyone donned green and ate corned beef and cabbage to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day.

This time we turn not to the East or to Europe but directly South to our neighbors in Mexico as we all get ready to have a fiesta and celebrate Cinco de Mayo. For members of my generation who grew up in the 60s, Mexican cuisine was nowhere near as commonplace as it is today. Certainly Mexican food was common in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California, but in the Midwest very few people knew the difference between an enchilada and a tostada. A lot, however, has changed in the past fifty years, and my children and grandchildren consider tacos and nachos as much a part of their regular diet as spaghetti and pizza.

So what do we know about Cinco de Mayo? Well, for one thing much as corned beef and cabbage on St. Pat’s Day is an American rather than an Irish tradition, celebrating the 5^th of May is more an American tradition that something done in Mexico. That’s not to say that Cinco de Mayo is not an important day for Mexicans, it’s just not a big party day in Mexico like it is here in the USA. Turns out that is more the result of good marketing by the beer & tequila companies over the past twenty five years, encouraging us to frequent bars and eating establishments to enjoy our favorite cerveza (beer), margaritas and yummy Mexican foods.

For those of you who are gringos like me, Cinco de Mayo is not a Hallmark made-up event like Sweetest Day or Grandparent's Day, it is the anniversary of an important event in Mexican history. No, it’s not Mexican Independence Day, that occurred fifty-one years earlier. It’s the commemoration of the Mexican Army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867). In Mexico today, especially in the area of Puebla, it’s celebrated with parades and political rallies, but here in the states we have turned it into a great excuse for a party.

Speaking of Party: Over the next two weeks, if you want to throw a Cinco-de Mayo party we have you covered in every department, especially the deli. Here is just a sample of items we are featuring in our deli to promote the Mexican holiday theme:

• Homemade Chicken Quesadillas

• Santa Fe Egg Rolls

• Homemade Steak Fajita entrée

• Fresh bakeb Telera and Bollilo rolls

• Chihuahua cheese and Pina Colada Pies

On top of that you will find skirt steaks in our meat department, several Mexican beers in aisle two, and a host of chips, salsa and guacamole, along with Mexican fruits and vegetables available in produce and throughout our store.

Olé!

Beth Guzauskas – Deli Manager

Everyone suffers periods of exhaustion, and it's not too hard to see why. Many of us live fast-paced lives with more tasks to complete than time in which to do them. In that perpetual time-crunch we aren't always doing what is best for our bodies; it's difficult to concern yourself with breakfast, for example, if you are running late for work or an appointment, or if you need to drop your children off at school. However, it is necessary to make time for ourselves or we risk burning out. Here are a few simple ways to help increase your energy and avoid fatigue, courtesy of webMD:

Increase Your Magnesium Intake

Eating a balanced diet can help ensure your vitamin and mineral needs are met. But if you still find yourself too pooped to pop, you could have a slight magnesium deficiency.

In a study done at the Department of Agriculture's Human Nutrition Research Center in Grand Forks, N.D., women with magnesium deficiencies had higher heart rates and required more oxygen to do physical tasks than they did after their magnesium levels were restored. In essence, their bodies were working harder which, over time, can leave you feeling depleted.

The recommended daily intake of magnesium is around 300 milligrams for women and 350 milligrams for men. To make sure you're getting enough, add a handful of almonds, hazelnuts or cashews to your daily diet. Also, try increasing your intake of whole grains, particularly bran cereal, and eat more fish, especially halibut.

Walk Around the Block

While it may seem as if moving about when you feel exhausted is the quickest route to feeling more exhausted, the opposite is true. Experts say that increasing physical activity -- particularly walking -- increases energy.

In experiments conducted by Robert Thayer, PhD, at California State University, a brisk 10-minute walk not only increased energy, but the effects lasted up to two hours. And when the daily 10-minute walks continued for three weeks, overall energy levels and mood were lifted.

Take a Power Nap

Research has shown that both information overload and pushing our brains too hard can sap energy. But studies by the National Institutes of Mental Health found that a 60-minute "power nap" can not only reverse the mind-numbing effects of information overload, it may also help us to better retain what we have learned.

Don't Skip Breakfast

Studies show that folks who eat breakfast report being in a better mood, and have more energy throughout the day. The theory is that breaking the fast soon after rising supplies your body with a jolt of fuel that sets the tone for the whole day.

Moreover, studies published in the journal Nutritional Health found that missing any meal during the day led to an overall greater feeling of fatigue by day's end.

Reduce Stress

One of the biggest energy sappers is stress, says psychologist Paul Baard, PhD. "Stress is the result of anxiety, and anxiety uses up a whole lot of our energy," says Baard, a sports psychologist at Fordham University in the Bronx, N.Y.

Like worry or fear, Baard says, stress can leave you mentally and physically exhausted -- even if you've spent the day in bed. More commonly, he says, low but chronic levels of stress erode energy levels, so over time you find yourself doing less and feeling it more.

Eat More Whole Grains and Less Sugar

The key here is keeping blood sugar balanced so energy is constant. A study published recently in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that eating more whole grains helped increase the body's sensitivity to insulin, allowing for that slow and steady release.

Have a Power Snack

Power snacking is more than just eating between meals. A treat that combines protein, a little fat and some fiber -- like peanut butter on a whole-wheat cracker, or some yogurt with a handful of nuts -- is the best option. The carbs offer a quick pick-me-up, the protein keeps your energy up, and the fat makes the energy last.

Can you name all the fruits that carry their seeds on the outside of their skin?  Strawberries are the only one.  On the average, there are 200 tiny seeds on every strawberry.  Now here is the real gotcha… Those yellow "seeds" on the outside are really not seeds at all but are, in truth, the actual fruit.  OK, now that we are completely confused, allow me to explain. Without going into the full botany lesson, what we think of as the fruit of this sweet, red, pulpy berry is actually referred to as a receptacle.  It is the part of the stem where the petals, sepals, stamens, and carpels are all attached.  What we think of as the seeds on the strawberry are both the fruit and the seeds, called achenes. 

Lesson over; let’s just keep things simple and continue calling the sweet delicious part of the berry the fruit. 

In the Midwest we are rapidly approaching the fresh strawberry season.  Strawberries are the first fruit to ripen in the spring.  Of course, thanks to our harsh winter weather the season doesn’t last long, and it wasn’t too long ago when folks in our part of the country had only about six weeks to enjoy this delicious red fruit.  Modern transportation and advanced growing methods have changed all that, however, and we can now enjoy fresh strawberries just about any day of the year (although the price per pint will fluctuate significantly depending on the supply available).

The fact that we can now buy fresh strawberries year-round is actually a great health benefit to us.  Here are a few of the specific benefits we discovered in doing our research on strawberries:

1. Strawberries are high in vitamin C, manganese and dietary fiber.  They also have great antioxidant power.
2. It has been proven that eating strawberries daily will strengthen the immune system.
3. Strawberries are an excellent antiseptic and anti-inflammatory agent.  Strawberry suppresses the development of influenza virus.
4. If you have problems with your urinary system, kidney and urinary tract, it is recommended that you eat no fewer than 400 grams of fresh strawberries daily.
5. Strawberries are a natural diuretic!
6. Salicylic acid, contained in this unique berry, helps reduce pain in the joints!

Strawberries are best eaten the day they are purchased.  We recommend that you only purchase enough to serve your needs for the day you shop and possibly the next day.  When you are in need of fresh strawberries again, stop in at your local Brookhaven and pick up our newest arrivals. 

In the event you do over-buy (when we have a sale, for example), you will want to take steps to assure that your berries stay as fresh as possible.  Without washing, place the excess strawberries back in their original container or place on a paper towel covered plate or pan and cover lightly with plastic wrap. The strawberries should be lightly covered to prevent their scent from penetrating other foods when stored in the refrigerator. The berries can be stored in the refrigerator for two or three days. Do not remove the hulls until the berries are going to be used. 

Strawberries are highly perishable so they should not be exposed to the sun or warm temperatures for an extended period of time.  If the strawberries are not going to be used within 2 or 3 days, they can be frozen to prevent them from spoiling.
When cleaning strawberries avoid soaking them in water.  Because they are so porous, strawberries will absorb the water, causing them to become waterlogged and lose some of their flavor.

Enough talk about these delicious red berries; here is list of some of our favorite strawberry recipes:

• Chilled Strawberry Soup
• Cinnamon Glazed Strawberries
• Strawberry Pie
• Classic Strawberry Short Cake
• Fruit Salad with Strawberries and Cream
• Easy Fudge Dipped Strawberries
• Island Freeze with Strawberries

Last week my uncle Rob kicked off our Shop Local event and introduced our newest local vendor, Aroma Roots. This week I’d like to share a bit about a company everyone will love to hear about as well...

As the old saying goes, “Everybody Loves Ice Cream,” but as you know all ice creams are not alike. We are most fortunate to have two excellent ice cream manufacturers, both making their frozen delights within a few miles of our store: Oberweis dairy in Aurora and Kimmer’s Homemade Ice Cream in St. Charles.  If you have lived in the Aurora area for any length of time, you are no doubt familiar with Oberweis dairy products and their rich, creamy ice cream.  Today I’d like to introduce you to a relative newcomer in the area, Kim Elan and her company, Kimmer’s Homemade Ice Cream.

A native of Batavia, IL, Kim graduated from the University of Iowa in 2011. Shortly thereafter, she purchased a small homemade custard shop in St Charles and turned it into Kimmer’s Homemade Ice Cream.  At the ripe young age of 26, Kim has been a shining example of success.  In addition to managing the store in downtown St. Charles, she has realized an opportunity to go beyond the four walls of her shop and today manufactures and distributes her delicious homemade ice cream to local retailers in the Fox Valley area, our store being one of them.

In order to keep excitement in the ice cream business, Kim relies on a constant stream of flavors that come in and out on a rotating basis.  One day they have Brown Cow; the next day, Coffee and Donuts. The Cookies and Cream lives up to its name; it’s a creamy and flavorful creation, and you will definitely notice a difference between it and the mass produced, big brand ice creams.

Kim began her illustrious ice cream career when she turned 16 and took a job at a Baskin-Robbins, which later became Batavia Creamery, its owner serving as her mentor.  “I realized that all throughout college, I had been writing business plans that had been centered on ice cream shops — marketing plans, finance plans, real estate projects. It was comical; clearly I have a vision here,” she laughs about the revelation.  After graduating, Kim attended Ice Cream University in New Jersey for total immersion.  Kim was recently honored with a Young Entrepreneurial Excellence Award by the Daily Herald Business Journal, and completed the venerable Penn State Ice Cream Short Course over winter break.

Since the start, Kim has insisted on quality as her number one priority.  She uses use only fresh dairy from very happy local cows, and locally-sourced natural flavors you can pronounce, including fresh fruits, nuts, syrups and extracts, as well as cookies and brownies.  Every flavor is hand-crafted in small batches and frozen right here, so you know it’s good and fresh!

Whether you want an exotic scoop of Aztec Hot Chocolate, a decadent bowl of Red Velvet Cake or a simply a bowl of the most popular flavor of ice cream, plain old vanilla, you will find something to get your taste buds excited when you survey our flavor selection. Be certain to visit our ice cream section this week and pick up a couple of pints of Kimmer’s - You will thank yourself again and again.

Andy Guzauskas – General Manager

As most all of our customers know, we are a locally owned family business that has been serving the west side of Aurora and the surrounding communities for almost 90 years. We are strong supporters of the shop local movement, as it is the root system that has allowed our store to thrive in this community for all these years. It’s been our family serving your families decade after decade, and your family supporting our business and its employees that has allowed us to stay in business for nearly four generations.

This week I’d like to give a shout out to all of the local businesses that provide our store with the goods and services that make Prisco’s Family Market the unique shopping experience that it is. Let me start with our employees. There are over fifty full-time and part-time employees, almost all of whom live within walking distance of the store. Their jobs at the store support or help to support their families, and they would like me to extend a “Thank You” for that on their behalf.

Other locals provide services that are a bit more behind the scenes. For example, Sam Donnell grew up in our neighborhood, and is a former employee and recent graduate of Columbia University School of the Arts. In addition to a full-time job in Chicago, Sam helps us create our bi-weekly print ads. Our public relations work is handled by a good, long-time customer, Al Benson. Our marketing needs are serviced by another customer who lives in nearby Sugar Grove, Pat La Jeunesse.

Then we have a whole cadre of local businesses that provide our store with products that they make or grow, which are then brought to our store and offered for sale. Today I’d like to tell you something about one of our newest vendors, Aroma Roots, which has its roots imbedded deep here on Aurora’s west side.

Aroma Roots is a family business run by Maria Skokan, its founder, and her husband and partner Peter. It is also supported with love and occasional elbow grease by their four lovely daughters. Both Maria and Peter grew up in Aurora and have lived here all their lives. Early in their marriage, Maria was a very successful optometrist working for a large retail optometry chain and Peter had a good job at the Caterpillar plant in Montgomery. All was good -- but Maria was restless. She had the itch to start her own business and in 2005, with the help of her sister, Maria left the corporate world and started a cleaning business. She loved the independence but was quickly disillusioned and discomforted by the extensive use of the harsh, poisonous chemicals she needed to work with every day.

Within a matter of months, with advice from her aunt, a homeopathic health practitioner and native of Puerto Rico, Maria had developed a full line of natural, non-chemical cleaning products that worked extremely well, were environmentally friendly, and not caustic to her, her employees or her customers. It was a new way of thinking, cleaning green. She called the company Nature's Essence Green Cleaning. The company grew and was so successful that at in 2007 Peter left his job and joined Maria as her business partner.

Their chemical-free cleaning products set them apart from the competition, and before long they recognized an opportunity to make additional cleaning supplies and sell them to other cleaning services. Things went along for three years with steady growth in their business until one day Maria had another of what she calls an “Ah-ha” moment. She went to visit a local health foods store and one of the things on her list was a bar of eco-friendly natural soap. Unfortunately, or actually very fortunately, the store was out of stock on the soap and Maria was forced to go home without any. On her way home, upset with the prospect of not having her natural hand and body soap available, she started to think, “How hard can it be to make my own soap?”

For most of us that answer is easy: WAY TOO HARD! Not for Maria. By the time she had her car in the garage she was off scanning the internet, on Youtube, and planning a visit to the library. She ordered ingredients and started mixing and matching plant botanicals and essential oils, along with other 100% natural ingredients. Within less than month she had her first batch of lavender oatmeal soap bars. Maria was raised eating organic and all natural foods and believed in avoiding chemicals and working with natural products for her health and beauty needs. She knew that this natural soap was the correct thing to use for her personal hygiene needs. What she soon discovered, however, encouraged her and convinced her that indeed she was on to something.

You see, Maria had very oily skin, something rather common in people of Puerto Rican decent, but her husband, Peter, had just the opposite. His skin tended to be very dry, flaky, and prone to eczema outbreaks. Maria gave Peter a bar of her new lavender oatmeal soap, and after using it for about one week he came to her and explained that there as something in that soap that had a dramatic effect on his skin -- the dry itchiness and eczema was gone.

The rest of the story is history yet to be written, but suffice it to say that Aroma Roots today is much more than a dream of Maria and Peters, and more of a dream of what it can become for them and their daughters over time. One year ago they opened their own store front on the corner of Jericho and Edgelawn. They sell their soaps and lotions at several local farmers markets and online, and now they are available right here at Prisco’s.

If you know Maria and Peter, great! But if you have yet to meet them, stop in our store this Sunday, 4/12, between 10:00 am and noon. You'll get to meet them and get a sample of some of their great, all natural skincare products.

Thank you for your continued support.

Rob Prisco – President, Prisco’s Family Market.

Our friend the tomato, a staple for any American kitchen, is actually a relative newcomer to the array of vegetables (or fruits, as others would argue) that are used in our everyday lives. In addition to corn, which is also extraordinarily common, the tomato is the major ingredient in many of the foods we Americans have come to know and love.
 
Although the details are a bit sketchy, the Spanish explorer Cortez, who conquered the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, later to be renamed Mexico City, in 1521, is credited as the person who brought the tomato back from the new world. Red tomatoes were said to be introduced to Italy by two Catholic priests many years later. The funny thing about tomatoes is that it took a very long time for people to become comfortable eating them. It was commonly believed that the tomato was meant to be an ornamental piece only, and that eating it could be fatal.
 
Even in North America, it has been only in the past 150 years that people mustered enough courage to try eating them. Everything changed on the courthouse steps in Salem, New Jersey, at twelve noon on September 26, 1820, when Colonel Robert G. Johnson ate not one, but a basketful of tomatoes. Not only did he survive, he wasn't the least bit ill following his demonstration, which was witnessed by hundreds of people (all of whom came to the courthouse to see the Colonel die a hideous death by poison!)
 
In order to be technically correct, we must point out that the tomato is not a vegetable but, rather, a fruit.  In the U.S., the confusion stems from a Supreme Court ruling back in 1893 which insisted that tomatoes be listed and labeled as a vegetable, since they were most commonly eaten as one. The reason for the fuss and why the decision needed to go to the Supreme Court was that there were different tariffs on fruits than on vegetables, and the tomato importers were interested in getting a favorable tariff. Can anyone say "lobbyist"?
 
After only a few hundred years, the tomato has become firmly entrenched in European culture and the diets of many nationalities. Italian cooking has become synonymous with tomato sauce; pizza would be lost without it. Where would Mexican restaurants be without salsa? Tomato soup, slices on a burger, and ketchup are mainstream uses for the versatile fruit in American culture.
 
The Roma Tomato – The real work horse of tomato varieties.
Roma tomatoes are the traditional paste tomatoes. With their dense and meaty flesh, low moisture content, and few seeds, they are the ideal tomatoes for processing into sauces and pastes. While the Roma contains less moisture than normal tomatoes, it boasts higher levels of sugar, acids, and pectin. Roma tomatoes have a cylindrical or plum shape, and feel heavy for their size. Their colors range from pink to orange to deep red. Veeroma, La Roma, and Sam Marzano are among the many popular Roma varieties.

First introduced in the U.S. in 1955, the Roma produces a large harvest of thick-walled, meaty, bright red, egg-shaped tomatoes about 3 inches long. This tomato is not juicy. This is not a slicing tomato. Instead, the flesh is thicker and drier so that it will cook down into a heavy sauce. Cooking intensifies flavor, too. If you can tomatoes, make your own spaghetti sauce, or like to chop a tomato into an omelet, this is a great choice. It's not too juicy in the pan compared to slicing tomatoes. The fruit freezes well for later cooking, as well.

Roma Tomatoes are low-calorie, low-fat, very low in sodium, high in vitamin A, high in vitamin C...and they are Cholesterol-free.

Try some of these handy Roma Tomato Recipes:

    Greek-Style Focaccia
    Mexican Fish Stew
    Swordfish Provencal
    Baba Ghanouj
    Tuscan Salsa
    Hot Fajita Salad
    Thai Lime Fry
    Salad Nicoise
    Fresh Tomato Soup with Tarragon
    Green Minestrone
    Guacamole Veggie Wrap
    Strawberry Salsa Bruschetta with Jalapeno

Source for facts found in this article came from, The California Tomato Board