California Walnut Salsa

California Walnut Salsa

This nutritious California Walnut Salsa recipe is not only packed with flavor, but it can be prepared in under 10 minutes. This specific salsa recipe also contains roasted red peppers, jalapeno peppers, and toasted walnuts—giving it an extra kick of flavor and crunch. All you need to do is stir all the ingredients into a medium-sized bowl, cover, and refrigerate it until it’s ready to serve. It doesn’t get much easier than that! Serve it up with your favorite veggies and a side of whole-wheat tortilla chips for a tasty snack that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

What’s the key ingredient to any salsa? That’s right, tomatoes! Every salsa requires tomatoes, and canned diced tomatoes do just the trick to create a simple, flavorful salsa. Not only do canned tomatoes provide a boost of juiciness to a dish, but they also have numerous health benefits. This specific recipe calls for canned fire-roasted diced tomatoes, but you can also use regular canned diced tomatoes for a different flavor profile. The mixture of onions, fresh cilantro, lime juice, garlic, and spices provides the perfect combination of savory and spicy flavor. Don’t be shy and feel free to add more spices and veggies for even more spice!

While fresh, chopped tomatoes can be used for salsa, it’s actually better to use the canned version! Research has shown that canned tomatoes are actually higher in nutritional value than fresh tomatoes due to the canning process (and they’re more affordable). When canned tomatoes are placed into their homes (aka the cans), they are stored at nutritional peak, providing them with maximum nutrition. What’s not to love about that? So, incorporate some nutrients into your daily diet than by enjoying a refreshing bowl of salsa.

Get the full recipe for California Walnut Salsa by visiting our friends at California Walnuts.

For other delicious dip recipes, check out:

The BEST BLT Dip
Tomato Pesto Hummus

Lycopene and Canned Tomatoes May Help with Cancer Prevention

Lycopene and Canned Tomatoes May Help with Cancer Prevention

What is one of the many powers that tomatoes have on human health? They help to reduce the risk of certain types of cancer! Learn more about the antioxidant properties of lycopene and canned tomatoes when it comes to cancer prevention.

It’s important to make sure that we are fueling our bodies with the proper nutrients to live a healthy lifestyle. This includes eating well-balanced meals that contain foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein. One source of food that is guaranteed to boost nutrient intake is tomatoes and tomato-based products. Tomatoes contain lycopene—a carotenoid that gives tomatoes their vibrant red color and has various health benefits–which plays an integral role in the improvement of heart health, protection from the sun, and reduction in certain types of cancer.

The incorporation of lycopene-rich foods, especially tomato-based products, have been shown to boost overall health. One specific research study gathered 19 healthy human subjects to identify the impacts that the consumption of tomato-based products—tomato juice, spaghetti sauce, and tomato oleoresin—had on each individuals’ body when the certain tomato-based products were consumed for a period of one week. The results of the study showed that since these products contain dietary lycopene, which is found in tomato products, they may act as antioxidants. In addition to the antioxidant properties found in tomatoes, lycopene is readily absorbed from tomato products. When food is readily absorbed by your body, it aids in gut health and digestion. Therefore, the correlation between lycopene, antioxidant powers, and tomatoes is strong, and researchers suggest that tomatoes can play a crucial role in the prevention of cancer.

As previously mentioned, tomato juice, spaghetti sauce, and other sources of tomato products can improve health and reduce risk of diseases. This goes to show that eating healthy can be made simple. For example, if someone told you to eat pasta with tomato-based spaghetti sauce to boost your nutrient intake, you would easily agree because it’s THAT easy! The best part about tomatoes is that they are extremely versatile and can be paired with both sweet and savory ingredients to whip up a flavorful, nutrition meal. So let’s get cookin’ with canned tomatoes!

Check out some delicious recipes featuring canned tomatoes:

Pan Seared Pork Chops with Bourbon Peach Compote
Easy Chicken Curry
Pizza Stuffed Chicken
The BEST BLT Dip

Prawn and Tamarind Curry with Chunky Cucumber Raita

Prawn and Tamarind Curry with Chunky Cucumber Raita

Looking for a new dinner recipe to spice things up? This Prawn and Tamarind Curry dish is a simple, delicious meal that can take your recipe-making skills to the next level. There are two main parts to this dish: the curry and the cucumber raita. The cucumber raita is an Indian side dish that contains cucumbers, greek yogurt, and spices. The curry component of this dish includes a mixture of tomato sauce, ginger, garlic, and mint that puts a unique spin on the usual seafood dish. The combination of these two parts perfectly balances out the sweet and spicy levels found in this dish. If you want more spice, feel free to add more red chili seeds! This flavor-packed dish can be served with noodles, rice, tortilla, or salad. Thanks to its versatility, it enables you to either eat it hot or cold, depending on what you’re craving that day.

One important ingredient found in the curry portion of this recipe is canned chopped tomatoes. You can’t forget this important ingredient because it adds a boost of flavor and juiciness to the dish, and who wouldn’t want that? The integration of canned tomatoes doesn’t only make the dish taste more flavorful, but it enhances the amount of nutrients already present. Canned tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin A, folate, and potassium, which have been shown to lower certain types of cancers and diseases.

When searching for canned tomato products at the grocery store, keep these two tips in mind to ensure you are receiving the best quality possible:

  • To find the perfect can, you should watch out for any cracks, dents, leaks, or any other deformities found on the exterior of the can.
  • If the cans appear to be damaged or dusty, try your best to avoid these ones and aim to purchase the cans that look like they are in tip-top shape. 

With these tips in mind, go ahead and whip up this delicious curry for dinner tonight! Thanks to flavors like this, you won’t be disappointed. 

Get the full recipe for Prawn and Tamarind Curry with Chunky Cucumber Raita by visiting our friends at the National Dairy Council.

For other delicious recipes, check out some of our favorites:

Pan Seared Pork Chops with Bourbon Peach Compote
Easy Chicken Curry
Pizza Stuffed Chicken
Green Chile Posole Soup
California Avocado Veggie-Packed Meatloaf

Grilled All-American Avocado Pizza

Grilled All-American Avocado Pizza

Looking for a seasonal homemade pizza that everyone will love? This scrumptious Grilled All-American Avocado Pizza recipe is a perfect dish to share with your family and friends. During the summer, everyone wants an easy meal that will satisfy the taste buds of both kids AND adults, which is why you can’t go wrong with pizza. Plus, you can always add more veggies or your choice of protein and customize the pie to your liking. The versatility of pizza dishes allows you to get creative in the kitchen!

By adding avocados to the top of your pizza, you’re getting a hefty dose of heart healthy fats and a creamy texture that makes this recipe a standout. While the avocado topping on this pizza is an important part of this recipe, the canned tomato sauce steals the show! After all, some of the best pizzas contain tomato products, and it’s easy to see why. Not only do they provide a stunning color, but canned tomatoes are jam-packed with antioxidants that have been shown to reduce the risk of certain diseases and cancers. The antioxidant properties found in canned tomatoes enable you to obtain vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, and potassium. In addition to their amazing nutritional quality, canned tomatoes are easily available, affordable and accessible to just about anyone. So next time you’re at the grocery store, make sure to stock up on canned tomatoes so that you can have a pizza party by the pool!

Get the full recipe for Grilled All-American Avocado Pizza by visiting our friends at California Avocados.

For other delicious pizza recipes, check out: 

Thin Crust Spinach Pizza
Arugula Salad Pizza
Artichoke Turkey Pizza

Positive Health Effects of Tomato Products

Positive Health Effects of Tomato Products

What’s one specific vegetable that is associated with high content of essential nutrients as well as antioxidant-rich phytochemicals? If you guessed tomatoes, then you are absolutely right! Learn more about the positive health effects of tomato products.

Tomatoes and tomato-based products contain a wide range of critical nutrients that keep your body functioning properly. These include (but are not limited to) vitamins, minerals, proteins, carotenoids, monounsaturated fatty acids, and phytosterols. The daily consumption of these nutrients are required in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Whether it’s in the form of ketchup, sauce, or paste, the antioxidant powers found in canned tomatoes can truly have a beneficial long-term effect on your health. 

 A recent research study provided evidence-based research that suggests the carotenoid found in tomato-based food products contains lycopene, which helps to prevent cardiovascular diseases, cancer, cognitive function, and osteoporosis. The positive correlation between the consumption of tomatoes and enhancement of the body’s antioxidants helps to reduce oxidative stress, which protects against DNA, cell, and protein damage. The consumption of tomatoes contains bioactive compounds that may also play a role in the prevention of constipation, reduction of blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels, improvement of digestion and body fluid balance, stimulation of blood pressure, and more. Boosting human health is our number one goal, and what better way to do so than by eating plant foods that we genuinely enjoy!

The benefits of canned tomatoes are an incentive to go out and purchase canned tomato products to get cooking in your kitchen. There are a wide range of recipes that you can whip up for you and your family to enjoy, such as pizza, pasta, tacos, and lasagna. These are easy, affordable recipes that will save you time and money while boosting your nutrient intake. If you’re new to cooking with tomatoes, check out some tomato-packed recipes found on the Tomato Wellness website for inspiration!

For other tomato news, check out:

Top 11 Reasons to Go Red with Tomato Products
Can Tomatoes Help Your Kid Eat More Veggies?
What is Lycopene?
Health Connection Between Tomatoes and Lycopene