Tomatoes
Season: summer. When buying fresh tomatoes look for firm flesh with unblemished skin. Don't store tomatoes in the refrigerator as this can make them grainy and mealy. Buy what you need and keep them on the counter.

There are many varieties of tomatoes. I personally like Roma Tomatoes (also known as Italian Plum Tomatoes) for cooking.

While there is nothing quite like a good fresh tomato, a bad one is a pale comparison. In cooking, and sometimes even in salsas, if you can't get really good, ripe tomatoes, you're better off using canned.