Substitute for tomatoes

[maninthekitchen]

My wife and son will not eat tomatoes but I love them. What is a good substitute for tomatoes in recipes?

The issue they have is the texture, especially the seeds and slime.

[Zeldaz]

Raw tomatoes or cooked?

[Chocolatl]

Have you tried removing the seeds?

[ala-kat]

Chocolatl wrote:
Have you tried removing the seeds?

Excellent suggestion. Get rid of that stuff and just use the meat of the tomato.

[Chicagoland Chef du Jour]

I used to puree tomatoes and add to dishes.

Sometimes you can omit the tomato if it isn't a key ingredient.
It all kinda depends on the recipe. We would need more info to suggest an alternative.

[maninthekitchen]

Good suggestion on the puree, that is what we do if the tomatoes can't be omitted. However, there are many recipes that have chunks of tomatoes and I was hoping to find a red colored subsitute that wouldn't change the taste or texture too much.

Perhaps I am dreaming, but I seem to avoid many terrific recipes because they have fresh tomato as an ingredient.

[Zeldaz]

If it's just the color you want, use red bell peppers, raw or roasted and peeled. Nothing is going to give tomato flavor, though. All you have to do is cut them in half crosswise and squeeze them to remove the seeds. The gel surrounding the seeds carries a lot of the flavor of the tomato and is used by some modernist chefs as an ingredient in its own right.

[peachez]

You could try sun dried tomatoes or slow roasted tomatoes ( scoop out the seeds prior to roasting ) in the various recipes you prepare.

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/08/slow-roasted-tomatoes/

[Chocolatl]

maninthekitchen wrote:
Good suggestion on the puree, that is what we do if the tomatoes can't be omitted. However, there are many recipes that have chunks of tomatoes and I was hoping to find a red colored subsitute that wouldn't change the taste or texture too much.

Perhaps I am dreaming, but I seem to avoid many terrific recipes because they have fresh tomato as an ingredient.

Maybe try this: http://www.ehow.com/how_13612_peel-seed-tomatoes.html

Otherwise, I agree with Zeldaz that red bell peppers would be the way to go. But ANY substitute will change the taste significantly.