by Tomato Wellness | Sep 28, 2021 | Recipes
Soup’s up! There’s nothing quite like a comforting bowl of tomato soup to warm your soul during the cooler months. That’s why this recipe for Creamy Tomato Soup with Popcorn is a fan-favorite–it’s a unique twist on a classic meal that will leave you feeling cozy. Additionally, these ingredients for this recipe are things you may already have in your pantry (such as diced tomatoes, vegetable broth, honey, and EVOO), making it a healthful, easy recipe to whip up on any weeknight. Plus, tossing a handful of popcorn on top makes for a smile-inducing experience. Serve it with a simple sandwich or a hearty salad, or even enjoy on it’s own. The sky is the limit!
Thanks to the reduced sodium diced tomatoes, this recipe is lower in sodium than the typical canned kind, which makes it a heart healthy option. And, since canned tomato products are rich in lycopene, they also contribute to a reduced risk of cardiovascular diease, as research shows that tomato products play an important role in preventing platelet aggregation (i.e. reducing the amount of blood clots that can lead to cardiovascular diseases). Additionally, tomato products can improve cholesterol by improving lipid profiles, as studies have found that consumption has lead to a significant decrease in cholesterol and triglyceride levels, as well as body weight and fat percentage.
So, go ahead and enjoy this nutrient-dense Creamy Tomato Soup! Your heart, soul, and taste buds will thank you.
Get the full recipe for Creamy Tomato Soup with Popcorn from Ellie Krieger, RDN.
by Tomato Wellness | Sep 26, 2021 | Media Recipe
Take a trip to Mexico without leaving your kitchen! This Spanish-inspired Fideo soup (Sopa de Fideo) is perfect to cozy up with any time of the year. Plus, this recipe only requires 30 minutes of cook time, so it is great for a quick weeknight meal!
In Spanish, fideo translates to noodles, which is fitting considering this soup is filled with them! The noodles typically used in this soup are thin and are broken up and browned before being added to the soup. For added flavor, this recipe calls for a can of chili ready tomato sauce, and a can of petite diced tomatoes with green chilies, lime, and cilantro. These flavors pair perfectly together, therefore creating a dish that everyone in your family is sure to love.
Just because this meal can be made in under 30 minutes doesn’t mean that it sacrifices nutrition! In fact, it’s just the opposite thanks to the addition of canned tomatoes. This pantry staple is a great way to keep cook time down while making a meal as nutritious as possible. Before being canned, tomatoes are cooked at peak ripeness, which captures their delicious flavor and enhances the lycopene content (which is a powerful antioxidant). Regularly consuming canned tomatoes can help reduce your risk of diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease!
Get the full recipe for Fideo soup by visiting our friends at Red Gold Tomatoes.
For other delicious soup recipes, check out some of our favorites:
Green Chile Posole Soup
Curried Leek Vegetable Soup
Classic Tomato Soup
by Tomato Wellness | Sep 20, 2021 | Food and Nutrition
We all want to keep our families as healthy as possible, now more than ever. For those of you who choose to show love to your family through cooking, keep reading! Cooking our families healthy meals can be an amazing way to keep them healthy as you will be providing a nutritious meal while getting in that much needed family time. One of my favorite ways to keep my family healthy is to use canned tomatoes in my cooking. There are many rumors online that state that canned vegetables are not as healthy as fresh and are not a good option, but I am here to set the record straight! Not only are canned tomatoes delicious, but they are a sustainable option that is great to support heart health.
My family and I are Italian American, and canned tomatoes are a huge part of our diet and culture. At least once a week we prepare a delicious tomato sauce using canned tomato products like crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. The recipe that my family makes has been passed down since my great grandparents moved to America from Italy, and I will certainly pass it down to my children as well. Using canned tomatoes not only ensures that our meals are filled with nutrients but allows us to consume fresh tasting tomatoes year-round.
Choosing canned tomatoes over fresh have many benefits. When tomatoes are canned, they are heated during the process. This heating increases the amount of lycopene that can be absorbed by the body [1]. Lycopene is an antioxidant that is great for maintaining heart health. In fact, studies show that people who have higher concentrations of lycopene within their blood have a reduced risk of stroke, mortality, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) [2]. As an antioxidant, lycopene has the ability to reduce reactive oxygen species, which is vital for fighting off chronic disease within the body [3].
In addition to being absolutely delicious, easy to incorporate in recipes, and heart healthy, canned tomatoes are a sustainable option as well. When we make the effort to recycle, it only takes 5% of the energy it would take to make a new aluminum can [4]. Choosing canned tomatoes are a great way to show love to our planet as it will reduce your carbon footprint. Choosing canned tomatoes are also a great way to reduce food waste as they have a much longer shelf life than fresh tomatoes do. Reducing food waste is another great way that we can support the health of our planet.
The next time you are at the grocery store, make sure to pick up a couple cans of tomatoes! They are such a versatile ingredient that can be used in a variety of recipes. (My favorite is making a homemade marinara sauce!) The next time you’re in the kitchen, put the love in with heart healthy tomato products! Your family and the planet will thank you for choosing a heart healthy and sustainable option.
References:
- Pogored. (2020, October 29).Are fresh Vegetables healthier than frozen OR CANNED?Cleveland Clinic. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/are-fresh-vegetables-healthier-than-frozen-or-canned/.
- Cheng, H. M., Koutsidis, G., Lodge, J. K., Ashor, A. W., Siervo, M., & Lara, J. (2017). Lycopene and tomato and risk of cardiovascular diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological evidence.Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition,59(1), 141–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2017.1362630
- Das, S., Otani, H., Maulik, N., & Das, D. K. (2005). Lycopene, tomatoes, and coronary heart disease.Free Radical Research,39(4), 449–455. https://doi.org/10.1080/10715760500053685
- Bloch, / M. (2012, November 11).Canned food – environmental pros and cons. Green Living Tips. https://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/canned-food-and-the-environment.html.
Bio: Olivia Peduto is an RD2B from Staten Island, New York. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Food and Nutrition Science from CUNY Brooklyn College. This fall, she will be starting her dietetic internship at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. She is passionate about nutrition for women’s reproductive health as well as digestive health. In her free time, Olivia enjoys gardening, cooking, and roller skating with friends. Her goal is to become a Registered Dietitian and open her own private practice where she can work individually with women to improve their reproductive and overall health through their diet.
by Tomato Wellness | Aug 24, 2021 | Media Recipe
Are you looking for a new recipe to switch things up? This California Walnut Firehouse Chili recipe is a definite winner. With only 30 minutes of cook time, this recipe may become your go-to weeknight dinner! This isn’t your average chili. The secret ingredient here is California Walnuts! The walnuts will give a great crunch on top as well as a boost of healthy fats. All you need to do is sauté your vegetables, season, add the canned tomatoes, walnuts, and beans and simmer! The dish can then be topped with hot sauce and fresh cilantro for an extra burst of flavor. The best thing about this dish is that you can add any other veggies that you like or are in season!
The base of the sauce for this chili dish is canned tomatoes. Adding tomatoes is a great way to not only add flavor to this dish, but to add tons of nutrition as well. Although fresh tomatoes could be used in this recipe, canned tomato sauce will cook more quickly and is more nutritious! Canned tomatoes are picked when they are perfectly ripe and then cooked before being canned. Cooking tomatoes makes them even more nutritious because it allows the lycopene to be absorbed better in the body.
The next time you are at the grocery store, pick up some canned tomatoes to use in your recipes! They are an affordable and sustainable option that is great for health. When shopping for canned tomatoes at the grocery store, be sure to choose cans that are free of any dents, cracks, or any kind of deformities.
Get the full recipe for California Walnut Firehouse Chili by visiting our friends at California Walnuts.
by Tomato Wellness | Aug 19, 2021 | News
Canned tomatoes and other tomato products are a sustainable option. However, new research shows that waste from producing tomato products can be repurposed using new green technology. Keep reading to learn more!
Here at Tomato Wellness, we are all about tomatoes, and for good reason! They are tasty, easy to incorporate in recipes, and have tons of health benefits. In addition to this, canned tomatoes are great for the environment, which means they are a sustainable option. When purchased canned, they can last longer on your shelf and will not go to waste! What makes canned tomatoes such a great addition to your diet is the lycopene content found within them. Lycopene is an extremely important antioxidant and can protect against disease such as cancer and heart disease.
Each year, the tomato processing industry creates between 600 thousand to 2 million tons of pomace [1]. Pomace is the pulpy residue that is left over after processing the tomatoes. Usually, this pomace is discarded, leaving an enormous amount of food waste behind. It has been concluded that tomato pomace can be used to extract lycopene. This greatly reduces waste, as pomace that would have been discarded is repurposed. In addition to this, researchers are trying out a new method of extracting lycopene that can be much more eco-friendly. Previously, the most common method of extracting lycopene was using hexane, an organic solvent that is a pollutant [1]. In search of a greener method, researchers have begun to use deep eutectic solvents (DES) [1]. These solvents are sustainable, affordable, and easy to produce. The results from the first attempt with this method show that the results were comparable with the hexane method of extraction and show much promise for a more sustainable future!
While canned tomato products were already a sustainable option to begin with, coming up with an additional use for one of their byproducts with green technology is simply groundbreaking! So, the next time you choose a tomato product at the grocery store, remember that you’re doing good for the health of both your body and our planet.
1.Silva, Y. P., Ferreira, T. A., Jiao, G., & Brooks, M. S. (2019). Sustainable approach for lycopene extraction from tomato processing by-product using hydrophobic eutectic solvents. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 56(3), 1649–1654. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-019-03618-8
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