A roll of the dice on tomatoes

By ELLEN KANNER

ekanner@MiamiHerald.com

We're at that slack time in the growing season. Sweet summer tomatoes are history. Most supermarket tomatoes are flown in from afar and could double as baseballs. And South Florida's luscious winter crop is barely in the ground.

Go tomatoless? Perish the thought. Canned, diced tomatoes are a favorite time-saver, and there are more organic options than ever. (Organic doesn't just mean pesticide-free: A USDA study found they offer significantly more antioxidants than conventionally farmed tomatoes.)

All canned tomatoes sampled have roughly 25 calories per half-cup serving. The question is, which brand comes the closest to just-off-the vine taste? Muir Glen ($1.33, 14.5 ounces) is an organic heavyweight, but we found its tomatoes pallid and swimming in watery juice. There's too much liquid, not enough flesh, and the flavor is muted and flat. Eden organic diced tomatoes ($1.69, 14.5 ounces) are unpeeled, providing an extra dose of antioxidants. They have subtle flavor and are diced fine, maybe too fine, vanishing into stews. Eden is pricier, too, proving that spending more isn't always the answer. Nor is spending less. Whole Foods 365 Organics ($1.19, 14.5 ounces) is your low price leader, but these tomatoes have a tinge of tinniness.

The happy surprise is Publix Greenwise diced tomatoes ($1.45, 14.5 ounces). They're chunkier than the others, and perhaps that's the secret -- bigger tomato bits mean bigger tomato taste, with true sweetness and acidity. We found the ''easy-open'' pop top on Hunt's diced organic tomatoes to be anything but. Once inside, however, the tomatoes ($1.39, 14.5 ounces) are rich, red and chunky, like those from Greenwise, with a high flesh to juice ratio. Nothing beats tomatoes off the vine, but Greenwise and Hunt's will get you by till our harvest comes in.

Ellen Kanner writes biweekly about vegetarian concerns.