Whether they’re from your backyard garden or the local farmers market, tomatoes are rapidly becoming the main ingredient of meals this time of year.

In fact, the late summer harvest added significantly to my meal the other evening — gorgeous heirlooms taking Go Fish executive chef Victor Scargle’s seasonal salmon dish up a notch or two.

A number of area restaurants subscribe to the summer tomato harvest offered by Big Ranch Farms. And you can find Big Ranch farmer Mark Haberger and his crew offering a wide range of heirlooms at farmstands in Napa and St. Helena this time of year.

Americans love tomatoes of all sizes, shapes and stripes. There are more than 4,000 varieties of tomatoes, ranging from the small, marble-size cherry tomato to the giant Ponderosa that can weigh more than 3 pounds.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans eat more than 22 pounds of tomatoes every year. However, more than half this amount is eaten in the form of ketchup and tomato sauce.

Over the years, how many times have you heard someone ask: “Is the tomato a vegetable or a fruit?”

Well, here’s the skinny, so you’ll have the answer next time it comes up. Technically, a tomato is a fruit, since it is the ripened ovary of a plant. However, in a case brought before our nation’s august body, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case called “Nix vs. Hedden” that tomatoes were to be considered vegetables.

Farmers as well as backyard gardeners maintain tomatoes don’t develop adequate flavor unless allowed to ripen on the vine. Shop for locally grown tomatoes at area farmstands. They might not be as picture perfect as the shiny ones in the produce sections of supermarket chains but beauty, of course, is only skin deep.

Fragrance is a better indicator of a good tomato than color, say the experts. Use your nose and smell the stem end. The stem should retain the garden aroma of the plant itself — if it doesn’t, your tomato will probably lack flavor.

As we close in on the end of summer next month, tomatoes should be at their peak. Some will have almost candy sweetness and be flavorful enough to eat out of hand.

Since fresh tomatoes are summer fare and off-season tomatoes are rarely flavorful, substitute canned Italian plum tomatoes in cooked dishes the balance of the year. Cook for 10 minutes to reduce the liquid and enhance the taste.

But right now, peel, seed and chop up a couple of pounds of heirloom tomatoes right off the vine, shred some fresh basil and toss together with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and then with angel hair pasta for a delicious easy summer meal. No, tomatoes this fresh don’t need to be cooked.

Tomato tips

• Never refrigerate fresh tomatoes. Cold temperatures make the flesh of a tomato pulpy and destroy the flavor.

• To ripen, place green or unripened tomatoes in a brown paper bag and place in a dark spot for three or four days, depending on the degree of greenness. Do not put tomatoes in the sun to ripen as this softens them.

• Freezing tomatoes: The simplest way to preserve tomatoes is to freeze them whole. Just rinse and dry them and then spread them out on a cookie sheet and freeze overnight. When frozen, put them in a freezer bag and return to the freezer. To use, remove from bag and thaw. When thawed, slip the skins off, and use them as you planned in a favorite recipe.

• Peeling fresh tomatoes: Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice water that contains enough ice water to cover the tomatoes you want to peel, or fill up your sink with water and add plenty of ice. With a paring knife, cut an “X” through the skin on bottom of each tomato. Working in batches of three or four, drop the tomatoes into the boiling water a few at a time, for only 10 to 15 seconds. Don’t leave tomatoes in boiling water for more than 15 seconds — especially if you’ll be using them uncooked in a salad or salsa — as they’ll become mushy. You don’t want them in a boiling pot any longer than they have to be because they’ll start to cook. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl or sink filled with ice water to cool them down. Once the tomatoes are cool, immediately take them out of the water to drain. Gently pull away the skins, beginning at the points created by the X. The skin will easily slip off. Use a small paring knife or your fingers.

• Add a pinch of sugar to tomatoes when cooking them. It enhances the flavor.

• To keep baked or stuffed tomatoes from collapsing, bake in greased muffin tins. The tins will give them some support as they cook.