Although it's unthinkable to pluck an ear of corn before it's ripe, tomatoes are fair game. Firm and tart, green tomatoes are more than just immature vegetables--they're a crop unto themselves.

This underappreciated, underused occupant of virtually every home garden can appear on the table in a number of ways. They're ideal for grilling alone or combining with other ingredients in soups, sauces, or even desserts. And although fried green tomatoes have an unmistakable Southern accent, fresh green tomatoes are frequently used in Mediterranean and Indian cuisines.

As soon as you pick a green tomato, use it. If it sits for more than a day or so, it will begin to turn red. As the green color disappears, so does the distinctive tartness. A tomato that is just starting to turn (but is still predominantly green) is fine for recipes such as our Green Tomato and Raspberry Cobbler. But once it has become light red or orange throughout, the formerly green tomato enters a limbo of sorts: Not only has it lost its tang, but it still lacks the complex flavor of a fully ripened tomato.

If you can't use them immediately, you can keep green tomatoes in your refrigerator's vegetable drawer for a couple of days to slow down the ripening process (we don't recommend this for ripe red tomatoes, however). Bring them back to room temperature before you cook them. That way, they'll be more like they are when you first bring them in from the garden--or home from a grocer wise enough to stock green tomatoes.