Friday Night Photos: More Green Zebra Tomato Love, with Recipes!
I don’t think there’s any doubt that Green Zebra Tomatoes are my favorite, and this post has Green Zebra Tomato Recipes for all the other gardeners who love them!
I’m posting these Friday Night Photos early because today is moving day in the Denny household. It’s not me or one of my siblings who’s moving; rather today we are moving our elderly father into a new apartment at the assisted living center, after numerous problems with his previous apartment being a little too close to the elevator!
I’m going to help with that in a few hours, after this bucket of Green Zebra tomatoes from my garden gets transformed into a couple of salads for all the movers to nibble on as we work. I raved last year about my love for Green Zebra tomatoes, and this year I’m having an amazing harvest from my three Green Zebra plants. Green Zebras don’t really need more than a little salt to bring out their remarkable flavor, but here are a few other ways I’ve used them.
If you’re growing Green Zebras for the first time, here’s my attempt to show how they change colors as they ripen. The first tomato is too green, and the one at the end maybe a bit too ripe. I usually eat them when they’re showing just a little bit of yellow color.
One of my favorite ways to eat these tomatoes is to simply cut into chunks, drizzle with a bit of good olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and crumble over some chunks of goat cheese. (This is goat’s milk cheese that comes in a log, but you could also use my dad’s favorite Feta cheese.)
Last year I made this heirloom tomato salad to take to dinner at my friend Wanda’s house, and the Green Zebra tomatoes were great in this. (At the party, I dressed these tomatoes with basil vinaigrette and served them with lots more fresh basil cut in chiffonade strips sprinkled on top.)
And my latest creation with Green Zebra tomatoes is these Green Goddess Tomato-Mozzarella Stacks, which are simply slices of Green Zebra Tomatoes and fresh mozzarella stacked and served with Green Goddess Salad Dressing drizzled over the tomatoes and mozzarella. Yum!
38 Comments on “Friday Night Photos: More Green Zebra Tomato Love, with Recipes!”
We grew green zebra’s from seeds.  I used them to make the best fried green tomatoes that I have ever had.
I am impressed that you grew them from seeds! I agree, they are absolutely the most delicious tomatoes!
Monica, I haven't tried starting them from seed, luckily I find the plants at the garden center every year. Good luck, and glad you're enjoying the blog!
I had green zebras from the San Francisco farmers market YEARS ago and still crave them. I finally got my hands on some seeds this winter and am going to HOPEFULLY grow some this summer. 🙂 Love the ideas for them. The pictures and recipes make my mouth water as I remember that great taste. I love your blog and recipes. Only thing that got me through starting South Beach type diet years ago. THANK YOU!
Jessica there are various colors of zebra tomatoes. Did you start them from seeds? If not, I bet you got a red one that was mislabeled. Here's a picture of the red zebras. I wouldn't mind trying them myself, but I never see the plants for sale.
I know this is an old post, but am hoping you'll get this anyway. I am growing GZs for the first time this year… and have a beautiful plant with heaps of healthy, pretty fruit – but they're all red! It looks like they may develop stripes if I leave them on longer (have harvested a few already, even though they're pretty firm, they're tasty!).
Any ideas?
Nic, this is an heirloom tomato, but I don't know if it's available out of the U.S. Definitely worth trying though if you ever come across it!
Esther, I don't know if people are wary of them, but sometimes people don't think they're ripe when they actually are. Usually one taste is enough to convince them though.
I was going to ask if they taste as good as they look but you've already answered that.
I've never come across them before.
Are people wary of eating them when they meet them for the first time?
Esther Montgomery
wow! they look amazing. Not growing them myself, never heard of this variety infact (but I'm over the water in the UK so that might explain it). I've just eaten breakfast but already you've got me thinking about lunch now with your gorgeous recipes!
Nate, I love the idea of green gazpacho! I bet it's fantastic.
Green Zebra tomatoes have awesome flavor.
I wonder if you could use those Green Zebras to make a green gazpacho!
Pam, not sure why it was hard to ask a question; there's a sidebar section for "How to Contact Kalyn" with my e-mail address, or asking in a comment will work too.
I use white whole wheat flour almost exclusively for baking; it's a whole grain flour that's lighter in texture than regular whole wheat. You could also use a mixture of almond flour (or almond meal, which is a bit coarser grind) with the white whole wheat flour if you wanted the glycemic index to be even lower. I haven't used rolled oats like this mixed with flour, but it might also work. (I'm not a baking expert at all though, some people who are good at baking might have even better ideas than I do!)
You can find things I've made using these flours by entering "white whole wheat flour" or "almond flour" into the search box in the upper right corner.
Finally, I see you are well equiped for the newest rages in communication, however, for a person who justs wants to ask a question… it was hard to find a spot to do that.
Question: I don't care about "gluten"… but I am looking for a flour… yes a flour… baking flour, that doesn't turn to sugar like white flour does in our bodies. I want to bake a dessert with fruit(i.e.: a cobbler), using the fruit to do MOST of the sweetening, but don't want the dough flour to turn to sugar thus reversing the low sugar content of the dessert. There are many flours; whole wheat flour is so heavy and course, it is not a good baking flour, plus it also turns to sugar but it doesn't do it as quickly bec. of the fiber content. So… do you know of a good alternative? I was thinking maybe rolled oats ground to a flour consistancey (bec. oats have a huge fiber content, and if I didn't remove the fiber even though ground, it might be usable… it doesn't seem to be so heavy and course. There are probably better thoughts on that so I am asking you. Your friend Lisa at LaMia Cucina told me to contact you bec. you are an expert on glycemic index issures.
Wanda, isn't fresh basil just the best. Stop by and I'll give you some tomatoes.
Thanks for your post, Kalyn. I just saw the photo of that beautiful and oh so tasty tomato salad that you brought over to my house. I have been savoring my basil plant, growing in a container on the back porch, all summer. It's so easy to just go out my kitchen door and snip off a few leaves for our supper.
Wanda
Isabella, the Green Zebra tomatoes are really producing too. Love them.
Tempting! This is just tempting! I have two kinds of tomatoes in my garden and nothing looks better than this. Thanks for sharing this post. It inspired me to get another variety of tomato growing in my garden. And also I wanna try those recipes. LOL.
love green zebras myself,
great recipe roundup
🙂
Oh Cindy, sorry to hear that. You can certainly make the recipes with other tomatoes as well, it's just that tha Green Zebras are especially good in then.
Those recipes all look so great but unfortunately I will have to wait until next year to try them. We are having a bad tomato year here. I only got 3 Green Zebras from my one plant. Will have to scour the farmer's markets to see if any are for sale. The three I had were delicious!
Thanks Maria, they are so tasty too.
Stunning tomatoes. I love their green color!
Tammy, I was not snubbing you! (Sometimes the comment is slow getting to my e-mail after it's posted, so it seems like I'm not answering.) Love the sound of those Fried Green Tomatoes. I will have to try that!
Mary, I'm glad you get to try them. Don't get confused by a tomato called Striped Zebra, which is also green, but not nearly as flavorful, at least not to me. I also love Brandywine tomatoes. Those must be my two favorites!
I grew these last year (no garden this year, unfortunately). My very southern friend told me how to make "real" fried green tomatoes and I probably ate a bushel of them fixed her way:
Slice a Green Zebra as thinly as possible. Coat in flour (I used spelt). Fry in oil until crisp on both sides. Sprinkle with salt. Eat warm. Yum!!!
I've never tried the zebra tomatoes. You made me curious and I'll remedy that as soon as the heirloom tomatoes begin to come to our farmer's markets. Everything is late this year. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Blessings…Mary
Linda, very seriously, this might be the best-tasting tomato I've ever had. Do try it if you get a chance!
I have trouble believing that a green tomato would taste good. Isn't it funny the things our minds tell us? Having had a purplish tomoato and a yellow one, I found them to be wonderful. I guess it's a green eggs and ham thing.
Thanks for the nice feedback everyone! Just got home from a long day of moving my dad and he's definitely been agitated about the move today, but it went relatively well.
We grew some zebra striped tomatoes this year and they are so delicious.
Kalyn, good luck with your dad's move. I know that a move like that, for an elderly person, can be difficult – even if it is within the same facility.
Your garden bounty continues to amaze me!
Gorgeous tomatoes!!
Okay, I feel dumb, because I've never heard of zebra tomatoes, but they look incredible. I can't believe I've never come across them before!
We're going to have to try this, especially with the goat's milk cheese.
Gorgeous zebras! Good luck with your dad.
They're beautiful, Kalyn! I didn't get hold of any seeds this year, but hope to grow some Green Zebras next year – they're so cute!!
Dana, thanks. They the best tasting tomato ever!
Katie, that sounds fun! I definitely have plenty to feed you.
I LOVE green zebras, but I haven't had any yet this year. Hmmm… maybe I should check out the prices of a flight to SLC 😉
Those tomatoes are so cool looking!