Superfood

I am a nutrient powerhouse or otherwise known as a superfood. I am high in potassium, packed with fiber and the mighty vitamin C. Aside from all that, I am perfect.

I can be eaten raw or cooked. Pureed or chopped. Sliced or diced. Fried or stewed. I'm as comfortable in a main dish as I am in a salad.

Like my human friends, I come in many colors. Green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, red, burgundy, and nearly black. I can also be streaked and striped.

I have tens of thousands of varieties. There are many hybrids created to withstand disease, cold, hot, bugs, produce early, produce late, produce large fruit or tiny ones. And yes, I have been genetically modified but that didn't work out. (Now hold on! Isn't a hybrid just like GMO? Sorry. That's a whole nother discussion.)

I am best right out of the garden. Still warm from the afternoon sun with juice dripping off your elbow.

Speaking of that, I have been squished into juice, condiments, sauces, then canned, bottled, and even dried.

In the past, my dead siblings were hurled at bad actors and my electronic successor still rates their productions.

My scientific name translates to wolf peach. I am a member of the nightshade family, which gave me a bad rap in the early Colonial days. Not to mention that all of my plant parts are poisonous except for little ol' me. I am technically a fruit, just as my other cousins cucumbers, squash, beans and peas. But since I would not likely be served as a dessert, the courts deemed me a vegetable. I like the new term: "culinary vegetable". Sounds kinda sexy, doesn't it?

Well, I think I've told you enough about me. Who am I?

(I'm a tomato.)