Why tomatoes?

Some of the main health benefits of tomatoes, as reported by Dr. Servan-Schreiber in his book, Anti-Cancer, page 122, are:

• Lycopene in tomatoes leads to longer survival from prostate cancer in men and who consume tomato sauce for at least two meals a week.
• Lycopene and other carotenoids found in tomatoes stimulate the growth of immune cells and increase their ability to attack cancer cells.
• A study of breast cancer patients showed that those who consumed the most foods rich in carotenoids lived longer than those who consumed less (over a six year period).

Give your body the benefit of the lycopene you consume

It’s wonderful that the luscious tomato is so rich in the potent anti-cancer phytochemical lycopene. But whether YOUR BODY actually GETS the lycopene from the tomatoes in YOUR FOOD depends on how well your body absorbs the lycopene in the particular food or foods you eat.

And the absorption of lycopene depends on a number of factors:

• “Tomatoes must be cooked in order to release their lycopene.” (Anti-Cancer, page 122)
• “Moreover, olive oil improves their assimilation.” (Anti-Cancer, page 122)

So pasta sauce made with cooked tomatoes and olive oil gives you more lycopene that your body can absorb than a glass of gazpacho made with the same quantity of raw tomatoes and no oil.

Cooking a nice big pot of Monamifood's Roasted Tomato and Roasted Garlic Soup

Sun-dried tomatoes

What about sun-dried tomatoes? Are they absorbed as well as cooked tomatoes?

The research I can get my hands on doesn’t clearly answer this question…but I think we can draw our own conclusion from some bits and pieces of information that I could find.

First, it takes 20 pounds of fresh tomatoes to make one pound of sun-dried tomatoes!
So naturally there’s 20 times more lycopene in sun-dried tomatoes than in fresh tomatoes.

How many pounds of fresh tomatoes does it take to make one pound of cooked tomatoes? According to Colorado State University researchers:  “Approximately 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds of fresh tomatoes makes 1 quart of canned tomatoes” – which is roughly 2 pounds of canned tomatoes.

OK, then let’s make this simpler and say that 3 pounds of fresh tomatoes makes 2 pounds of canned tomatoes. So, there must be about 1 ½ times more lycopene in the canned tomatoes than in the fresh tomatoes (3 divided by 2 = 1.5).

And since canned tomatoes are flash-cooked, let’s assume that cooked tomatoes also have 1.5 times more lycopene than fresh tomatoes.

One and half times more lycopene in canned or cooked vs. raw tomatoes is good, BUT 20 times more lycopene in sun-dried vs. raw tomatoes is even better. Or said another way, sun-dried tomatoes are 13 times richer (20 divided by 1.5 = approx. 13) in lycopene than canned/cooked tomatoes. And that’s a good thing, wouldn’t you say?

Now…let’s think about this. Because there is SO MUCH MORE lycopene in sun-dried than in cooked or canned tomatoes, even IF lycopene is not as well absorbed from sun-dried as from cooked or canned tomatoes, that’s probably not an issue. After all, you start out with 13 times more lycopene in sun-dried vs. canned/cooked tomatoes!

And…sun-dried tomatoes – preserved in olive oil — are so incredibly delicious! So I happily include sun-dried tomatoes in my own anti-cancer diet.

More good information about tomatoes, tomato products, and the packages they come in, as relates to cancer from Eat to Beat Cancer.

Enjoy and be healthy,

~Leni

ONIONS & SPINACH: Caramelized Onions and Roasted Spinach

Why onions?

Onions are a member of the alliaceous family (along with garlic, leeks, shallots and chives).  “The sulfur compounds of this family…reduce the carcinogenic effects of nitrosamines and N-nitroso compounds, which are created in overgrilled meat and during tobacco combustion. They promote apoptosis (cell death) in colon, breast, lung, and prostate cancer, as well as in leukemia.” (David Servan-Schreiber, Anti-Cancer, page 123).

Why spinach?

“…all the bright-colored fruits and vegetables (orange, red, yellow, green) contain vitamin A and lycopene, which have the proven capacity to inhibit growth of cells of several cancer lines, including brain gliomas.” (David Servan-Schreiber, Anti-Cancer, page 122).

CARAMELIZED ONIONS & ROASTED SPINACH

The process of slow roasting the onions and spinach cooks down the veggies so that each spoonful of cooked veggies is equal to about THREE spoonfuls of raw veggies! This means that you can sneak a lot of veggies into your meals by adding just a few tablespoons of these great roasted veggies!

Here are a few of the foods to which I often add caramelized onions or roasted spinach – or both:

• Hummus
• Rice
• Beans
• Quinoa
• Cottage cheese
• Egg whites (Just add this mixture to the recipe for Egg White Puffs)
• Soups (Just mix into almost any soup!)
• Pasta sauce

Also, the mixture of caramelized onions and roasted spinach makes a great side dish for chicken, fish, or grass-fed lean beef. For more flavor, just add any herb and spice combination that you like – even just a dusting of freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of salt!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds red (or yellow) onions, chopped
  • After posting this recipe calling for yellow onions, I tried it with red onions, and found that it was even better with red onions.
  • I didn’t specify organic onions. That’s because, of all vegetables and fruits, regular (non-organic) onions have the least pesticide residue, according to the Environmental Working Group.

• 2 pounds frozen chopped organic spinach
  • I specified organic spinach. That’s because regular (non-organic) spinach comes with a fair load of pesticides, according to the Environmental Working Group.
  • Whole Food’s 365-Brand frozen Organic Chopped Spinach is the frozen organic spinach that I use most often.
  • I don’t bother with fresh organic spinach for this recipe because the frozen version saves so much time.

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions (Note: Total baking time is 1 hour and 15 minutes.)

• Cut the onions into chunks. For example, if you have medium-size onions, cut them into quarters and then again in half, so that you have eight chunks.

• Place about 2 cups of the onion chunks into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Using the pulse function, pulse for 4-6 times, or until you have small, but not tiny pieces of onion, as you can see here:

just some of the chopped onions

• Empty the food processor and process the next two cups in the same manner; then repeat until all the onions have been chopped.

• Take a rimmed baking sheet and line it with aluminum foil, parchment paper, or a silicone baking mat (for example, a Silpat mat that covers the entire pan, size 11 5/8 X16 ½-inch mat made for 13 X 18-inch sheet pan; US half size.) Place the lined baking sheet inside another rimmed baking sheet. (This creates an air pocket and keeps the onions from burning.)

• Place the chopped onions on the lined baking sheet and drizzle half of the olive oil (¼ cup) over the onions. Mix the onions and olive oil to distribute the olive oil.

• Using your hands (if you don’t mind them smelling like onions) or a non-metal spatula, spread the onions out evenly over the entire pan; set aside.

• Take a third rimmed baking sheet and line it with aluminum foil or a silicone baking mat.

• Pour 2 pounds (2, 1-pound bags) of frozen chopped spinach onto the lined baking pan.  Drizzle the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil over the spinach and mix the spinach around to distribute the olive oil.

• Place the pan of spinach on the middle rung of the oven and the pan of onions on the lower rung of the oven.

onions and spinach going into the oven

• Turn on the oven and set the temperature for 400 degrees F.  Note: In this case, I don’t preheat the oven, because it would just waste energy.

• After 45 minutes, open the oven door –  WHILE TURNING YOUR FACE AWAY — so that you don’t get a blast of hot steam in your face. Take one pan out of the oven.

• Use two spatulas and mix the more cooked veggies (those on the sides of the pan) with the less cooked veggies (those in the center of the pan). Then pat the veggies down so that they evenly cover the entire pan. Put the pan back into the oven on the rack it came from.

• Remove the second pan of veggies from the oven. Use two spatulas and mix the more cooked veggies (those on the sides of the pan) with the less cooked veggies (those in the center of the pan). Then pat the veggies down so that they evenly cover the entire pan. Put the pan back into the oven on the rack it came from.

• Let the pans of veggies bake for an additional 30 minutes.

• Turn off the oven and remove both pans from the oven. Use the non-metal spatulas to mix the veggies in each pan around and then spread them out so that they can cool.

• When cool, place the caramelized onions and roasted spinach in glass containers; refrigerate.

• Of course, if you like, you can also freeze both the caramelized onions and the roasted spinach in – you guessed it – silicone mini muffin pans to make “flavor cubes” for use later. . (For more on the technique of freezing in silicone mini muffin pans, see Monamifood Basil Pesto Flavor Cubes.)

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

TOMATOES and THYME: Roasted Grape Tomatoes with Thyme

Why tomatoes and thyme?

Researchers have found that lycopene, found in tomatoes, helps fight cancer, as explained in my earlier post, Sun Dried Tomato Flavor Cubes. Also, terpenes found in thyme, help to fight cancer, as explained in my earlier post, Basil Pesto Flavor Cubes.

ROASTED GRAPE TOMATOES with THYME

I had just finished baking a few batches of biscotti and the oven was still hot. So I thought: What can I cook now while the oven is still hot? With two pints of beautiful grape tomatoes on hand, I decided to bake the tomatoes so as to have a great side dish to go with the fish we are having for dinner. (By the way, Lady Moon Farms Organic Grape Tomatoes are currently on sale at my Whole Foods store – and maybe at a Whole Foods near you – for only $1.99 per pint, and that’s half their usual price.)

Ingredients

2 pints grape or small cherry tomatoes (organic, if possible)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Salt to taste, if desired

1 – 2 teaspoons fresh thyme (leaves), to taste

It can be tedious to strip thyme leaves off of their stems, so here’s a time saving tip I just discovered for making this process quick and easy (and, contrary to what I had stated earlier, I just found that this works whether the thyme has woody or soft stems!)

• Wash the fresh thyme and spin dry it
• Place the spun-dry thyme into a quart-size plastic bag for the freezer and freeze.
• When the thyme has frozen, remove the bag with the thyme from the freezer, and without opening the bag, grab onto the sprigs of thyme and rub them vigorously against each other. Very soon (or in no time at all), almost all of the leaves of thyme will fall off the stems and end up in the bottom of the freezer bag!
• Now when you need a teaspoon of fresh thyme, just spoon it out of the freezer bag!
• Note: To be kind to the environment and save yourself some more time, re-use the plastic bag — without washing it. When you’ve used up all the thyme leaves and only the stems remain in the bag, toss out the stems, but keep the bag, as is, in the freezer. Then just add more clean fresh thyme and repeat!

Directions

Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the grape tomatoes onto the baking sheet. Drizzle the olive oil over the tomatoes and mix them around with your hands so that all the tomatoes are lightly coated with olive oil. Add freshly ground black pepper and salt, if desired, to taste.

Place the pan with the tomatoes into the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes; stir the tomatoes around gently. Bake for about 10 more minutes, or until the tomato skins start to shrivel and a few of the tomatoes burst.

Caution: When you open the oven door, you may get hit with hot steam. So keep your face away until the steam dissipates!

Remove the pan from oven and place the tomatoes and the juices from the tomatoes, if any, into a container for serving or storing in the refrigerator.  Scatter the thyme over the tomatoes; mix gently.

Serve and enjoy:

• With Egg White Puffs or Sauted Herbs for Breakfast (one more herb won’t hurt!).
• As a side dish with baked or sauted fish, chicken, or tofu.
• As a topping for a slice of whole grain garlic toast!

Enjoy and be healthy,

~Leni

APRICOTS: Apricots Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Thyme

Why apricots?

The carotenoids, vitamin A and lycopene, found in orange colored fruits and vegetables, have “the proven capacity to inhibit the growth of cells of several cancer lines, including brain gliomas,” (David Servan-Schreiber, Anti Cancer, page 122). Other carotenoids have been shown to “stimulate the growth of immune cells and increate their capacity to attack tumor cells,” (David Servan-Schreiber, Anti Cancer, page 122).

In addition, “a study that tracked breast cancer patients for six years showed that those who consumed the most foods rich in carotenoids lived longer than those who consumer less,” (David Servan-Schreiber, Anti Cancer, page 122)

APRICOTS STUFFED WITH GOAT CHEESE AND THYME

Apricots Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Thyme

This recipe could not be easier! And these apricot bites are a wonderful appetizer – something a little different and very delicious.

Note: Here are the directions for making just one Apricot Stuffed with Goat Cheese. You’ll want to make a lot more than just one!

Ingredients

1 dried apricot

• I used Mariani Ultimate Apricots that I had bought at Costco. They’re a good size, soft and plump – just perfect.
• Like most dried apricots, the Mariani brand contains sulfur dioxide which is used to preserve the color (keeps them orange, not brown like apricots without this preservative). Some people are allergic to sulfur dioxide. For those people it’s definitely not safe to consume products that contain sulfur dioxide; for the rest of us, it’s OK. For more on sulfur dioxide’s safety — and the safety of many other additives and preservatives in our food – see CSPI’s website.

¼-½ teaspoon goat cheese

• If possible, choose goat cheese from grass-fed goats because the omega 3 to omega 6 balance of grass-fed milk (cheese) and meat is closer to the ideal 1:1 ratio.
• Where can you find cheese from grass-fed goats? I have found grass-fed dairy products at our local farmer’s market. Of course, when the market is not in season, you have to look elsewhere – at specialty grocery stores and online (americangrassfed.org and eatwild.com)
• Not to worry. If you don’t use grass-fed goat cheese, that’s fine too.

2 pieces ( ¾ to 1-inch long stems, each) fresh thyme

• Note: Herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil and mint are very rich in essential oils of the terpene family, and these oils “promote apoptosis [cell death] in cancer cells and reduce their spread by blocking the enzymes they need to invade neighboring tissues.” (David Servan-Schreiber, Anti Cancer, page 123)
• Use the tender ends of the sprigs of thyme for this recipe.
• Use a pair of kitchen shears to cut ff the tender ends of the thyme.
• Tip: Reserve the woodier ends of the thyme for another use, such as making soup.
• You can freeze the remaining thyme sprigs(after washing). Just put into a resealable plastic bag for the freezer and freeze.
• You can also store thyme sprigs  for about a week in the refrigerator. Just loosely wrap them in a paper towel and refrigerate. Do not wash the thyme before you refrigerate it. But do wash it before you are ready to use it.

Directions

Pry the dried apricot halves apart or cut them apart with a sharp serrated knife, but do not completely separate the two halves of the apricot. (The two halves of the apricot should be joined together on one end.)

Spread the goat cheese onto one of the apricot halves.

Place the thyme on the cheese so that two (or more) ends of the thyme peek out over the edge of the apricot.

Cover the filled apricot half with the plain apricot half.

And…that’s the recipe. It’s that simple!

Enjoy and be healthy!

Leni

TOMATOES: Sundried Tomato Flavor Cubes

SUN DRIED TOMATO FLAVOR “CUBES” (also a spread)

This recipe makes a great spread. But ‘s also a recipe for so much more. You can freeze this spread in mini muffin pans (or ice cube trays) for use later in lots of different recipes — to boost the flavor and the nutrition of whatever you are making — from soups, to pasta sauces, to omelets — you name it!

Ingredients

Given below are the quantities that I used to make a small amount when I was first experimenting with this idea. But resulting flavor was so good, I went ahead and made this recipe in a much larger quantity, using a full-size food processor, the second time. In fact, I’ve already processed the whole two-pound jar of Sun Dried Tomatoes and now I have lots of flavor cubes ready and waiting in my freezer!

½ cup sun dried tomatoes canned in olive oil (only), drained

I used Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes in 100% pure olive oil that I bought at Costco. This product contains: sun dried tomatoes, pure olive oil, garlic, herbs, spices and sulfites (for color retention).

Some people are allergic to sulfur dioxide. For those people it’s definitely not safe; for the rest of us, it’s OK. For more on sulfur dioxide’s safety (and the safety of many other additives and preservatives in our food), see Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Pure olive oil is a lower grade of olive oil and it’s often used in commercial foods. Lots more on olive oil grades.

1 tablespoon (or more) extra-virgin olive oil

6 fresh basil leaves (exact quantity not important; use as much as you like)

• In winter when fresh basil is hard to come by and expensive, I don’t bother with fresh basil leaves. If I still have some Monamifood Basil Pesto Flavor Cubes in the freezer, I use those instead. And if I don’t have any left, I simply use Penzeys Spices Pasta Sprinkle (ingredients: sweet basil, Turkish oregano, thyme, and garlic).  For the exact ingredients that I used when I made this recipe using using Penzeys Spices Pasta Sprinkle and a whole two-pound jar of Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes from Costco, see Sundried Tomato Flavor Cubes – Winter Version at the end of this post

1 tablespoon of other fresh herbs such as oregano and thyme (exact quantities not important), optional

¼ teaspoon Aleppo peppers (dried pepper), or to taste

• These are great little peppers and they’re ideal for pasta sauces. But you can use any hot pepper you have on hand. Of course, you will need to use less if your particular hot pepper is hotter than the aleppo pepper. So just taste and adjust seasoning.
• My Aleppo Pepper comes from Penzey’s (my favorite spice store).

Directions

In a mini-food processor fitted with the metal blade, place all ingredients and process to the consistency of a spread.

Spread on toast and enjoy!

Freeze this paste to make flavor cubes you can use whenever you want!

You can freeze this paste/spread just like you freeze the basil pesto, as explained in my earlier post on basil pesto.

• We went to a party the other day and I defrosted a few of these Sun Dried Tomato Flavor Cubes and just spread some on slices of toast. It was a big hit at the party.
• And when making pasta sauce with all of the tomatoes that are ripening in our little garden  now, I thew in a few of these sun-dried tomatoe cubes and a few of the garlic paste cubes as well. What a great sauce we had for dinner over whole wheat pasta (my husband and I) and over quinoa (my daughter)! I’ll give you the recipe the next time I make it and can pay attention to the quantities enough to report on them here.

A few more things…

Dry your own tomatoes, anyone?

Make your own sun-dried organic tomatoes in olive oil?

Sundried Tomato Flavor Cubes – Winter Version

Ingredients (Winter Version; also large quantity)

1, 2-pound jar of sundried tomatoes in olive oil (Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes from Costco)

3 tablespoons Penzeys Spices Pasta Sprinkle

1 tablespoon Penzeys Spices Aleppo pepper

1/4 cup plus two tablespoons good quality flavorful extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

In a full-size food processor (mine is the 11-cup size and it acommodates all the ingredients at one time) fitted with the metal blade, place all the ingredients and process to the consistency of a paste/spread.

Fill 3 silicone mini-muffin pans with this Sundried Tomato paste/spread. I like to fill the mini muffin cups with differing amounts of this wonderful paste/spread so that I have different sizes to choose from later when they’re frozen. Freeze until solid. Then pop the mini muffins into a plastic bag and store in the freezer.

A few of the ways that I use these Sundried Tomato Flavor Cubes

• Mixed with Monamifood Sauted Herb Flavor Cubes
• Mixed into Monamifood Pasta Sauce or store-bought pasta sauce that needs more “umph”
• Added to almost any vegetable soup you are improvising
• Spread on toast with a little goat cheese for an appetizer
• Spread on bread for sandwiches
• Mixed into hummus and stuffed into hard cooked egg whites.
• I even added some to the hot and sour soup I made the other day — making it more Thai than Chinese. The result was great! It did not matter at all that there were some Italian herbs in my hot and sour soup! So don’t let convention stand in your way – experiment!

Enjoy and be healthy!

Leni