TOMATOES

Tomatoes bring back the essence of summer, bright red and bursting with tangy juice. As a little girl, my sister and I would sit in our Grandmother’s garden with a saltshaker, popping sun-bathed cherry tomatoes into our mouths, reveling in the explosion of sweet, sour and salty. Thus began my love affair with food from the earth!

COOK’S NOTES:
While the value of many nutrients is higher when fruit is eaten raw, it turns out that cooking tomatoes actually concentrates the lycopene and makes it more bioavailable to fight cancer and heart disease. And because lycopene is fat-soluble, cooking tomatoes with olive oil increases its absorption and utilization.

KEY PHYTONUTRIENTS AND HEALTH BENEFITS:
Lycopene is the carotenoid that’s responsible for the reduction in the risk of a number of cancers, like prostate, breast and colon cancer. Research has shown that just two servings of tomato sauce each week significantly reduced the development of prostate cancer. The breast and prostate are similar, fatty tissues, so what’s good for one is often good for the other.

The anti-oxidants, vitamins C and A, work with lycopene to protect against heart attacks and cardiovascular disease by lowering total and LDL cholesterol and reducing clot formation.

Anthocyanins are the red/blue pigments in darker red tomatoes, which protect the retina of the eye, reducing the drift toward macular degeneration and blindness.

So, whip up my marinara, one of the curries or soups and know you’re feeding you and your family good medicine.

FEATURED RECIPIES:

• Dr. Sally’s Chicken Soup
• Ratatouille
• Gazpacho
• Fast and Fabulous Marinara Sauce
• Red Thai Curry
• Red Snapper Vera Cruz
• Brazilian Seafood Stew
• Thai Coconut Chicken Soup
• Chipotle Chicken Soup
• Caribbean Prawn Salad
• Sunny Morning Scramble
• Insalata Caprese