Disclaimer: This is a review. I received a free product in exchange for an honest write-up. All opinions expressed are genuinely mine. Not so long ago, I received several cans of diced tomatoes and a recipe book from Redpack Tomatoes. The company is promoting the use of their diced tomatoes in summer salads and asked me to give a recipe a try.
So there I was, at home, with several 28 oz. cans of diced tomatoes- what to do, what to do? I've never actually cooked with canned tomatoes before. I have always been a fresh heirloom and cherry tomato girl.
After staring at the cans for a week, my sister in Albany, sent over an amazing recipe for creamy tomato soup with tarragon. I cracked open my first can with enthusiasm and made my first tomato soup from scratch (ish). It was met with rave reviews from my husband and two year old.
I was ready to tackle another can. The next recipe for bruschetta style pizza came from my friend Elise, in D.C. When I saw that this pizza called for diced tomatoes and not tomato sauce, I was excited to dive in. The pizza was a winner! The diced tomatoes were a perfect compliment to the medley of vegetables and provided a nice burst of tomato flavor in lieu of the more intense flavor of sauce.
Canned tomatoes, not too shabby I conceded.
Finally, I opened up the cookbook Redpack sent and decided to attempt to make one of their summer salads, a mango chicken salad, minus the chicken (I wasn't in a meat mood). Aside from leaving out the grilled chicken, I followed the recipe exactly. Overall, the salad was good, but I truthfully must admit, it wasn't the same with canned tomatoes.
The canned tomatoes worked well in warm recipes, but in the salad recipe, alongside a host of fresh ingredients, the canned diced tomatoes didn't really do it for me. I'm definitely going to use fresh tomatoes on my next salad.
I will however, buy Redpack's diced tomatoes in the future when I'm ready to pull out my new creamy tomato soup with tarragon recipe or my bruschetta style pizza recipe.
Have you ever tried canned tomatoes in a summer salad?