by Tomato Wellness | Jul 22, 2021 | Media Recipe, Recipes
Looking for a healthy, protein-packed recipe for this summer? This Picadillo-Style Beef Stir-Fry is one dish that you don’t want to miss out on! This recipe calls for sirloin steak, potatoes, green bell peppers, tomato sauce, and seasonings galore. It can be served with a warm flour tortilla, hot cooked rice, or refreshing salad with greens. For additional flavor and crunch, you can also throw on some toasted sliced almonds, chopped fresh cilantro, and sour cream. This dish only requires 45 minutes of cooking time, and can be stored for up to two days, which means you can save time and meal prep with the remaining leftovers. Enjoy hot out of the oven or chilled down from the fridge to switch things up during the week.
Thanks to the addition of tomato products, you can avoid dried-out meat and boost the juiciness of many recipes. The addition of canned tomato sauce found in this Picadillo-Style Beef Stir-Fry adds a savory, mouth-watering flavor that is guaranteed to make your taste buds sing. These tomato products are also great for your short and long-term health! Canned tomatoes are a good source of lycopene, an antioxidant that gives tomatoes their vibrant, beautiful red color. Antioxidant-packed foods are beneficial for reducing risk of heart disease and cancer. In fact, studies have shown that canned tomatoes contain more lycopene than raw/fresh tomatoes. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and add canned tomatoes to your favorite dishes this summer!
Get the full recipe for Picadillo-Style Beef Stir-Fry by visiting our friends at the National Beef Council.
If you’re looking for other delicious recipes, check out some of our favorites:
Breakfast Egg Bake
Muhammara Walnut Shakshuka
California Avocado Veggie-Packed Meatloaf
by Tomato Wellness | Jul 10, 2021 | Media Recipe, Recipes
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
by Tomato Wellness | Jul 1, 2021 | Food and Nutrition, Media Recipe
Regardless of the season, everyone is searching for new recipes that can be enjoyed and shared with friends and family. That’s why you should definitely check out this recipe for Wrangler’s Beef Chili! Whether it’s cooked in a slow cooker, stove top, or crockpot, you can never go wrong with a flavor-packed chili dish. This recipe calls for ground beef, veggies, tomato sauce, and macaroni. All of these ingredients provide specific nutrients that make this meal not only full of flavor, but also a secretly healthy comfort meal. For additional flavor, you can top this chili dish off with some crushed baked tortilla chips, green or regular onions, tomato, bell pepper, fresh cilantro, reduced-fat shredded Cheddar cheese, and non-fat Greek yogurt. This dish can be mixed in with baked potato halves or whole wheat macaroni if you are looking for some substitutions. Another interesting component of this recipe is that you can style it two ways: Cincinnati or Moroccan style, by adding alternative seasonings and grains that are specific to this dish.
While this dish is a good source of protein, it also has a high lycopene content from the canned tomato sauce. Since canned tomatoes are a critical part of any chili dish, it’s important to not skip this ingredient. It makes the chili juicy, adds more flavor, and contributes a boost of nutrient-rich value, as they contain vitamins C, vitamin E, fiber, and potassium. The ability of canned tomatoes to absorb more nutrients within the body allow them to contain cancer-fighting properties. Canned tomatoes are easy to find at any local grocery store and are cost-efficient, making them easily available and accessible to the general public. So if you’re trying to stock up on low-calorie, nutrient-rich canned items, then canned tomatoes will be your new best friend!
Get the full recipe for Wrangler’s Beef Chili by visiting our friends at the National Beef Council.
by Tomato Wellness | Jan 15, 2019 | Food and Nutrition, Tomato Products
Top 9 Dietitian Tips for Enjoying Processed Tomatoes
Top dietitians are sharing their favorite tips for enjoying more processed tomato products. Check out these Top 9 Dietitian Tips for Enjoying Processed Tomatoes, and enjoy a serving of tomato products today!
Every time you bite into a taco covered with salsa, a pile of pasta smothered in marinara, or steaming tomato soup, you are gaining health benefits linked with eating tomato products. Processed tomato products, including canned tomatoes, marinara sauce, tomato paste, salsa, and tomato soup, are rich in numerous health-protective nutrients, including fiber, potassium, vitamin C, and lycopene—the antioxidant compound that gives tomatoes their beautiful scarlet hue. And when tomatoes are cooked—as they are in processed tomatoes—the lycopene is even more available to your body, because the cooking opens up cell walls in the tomato plant to allow the lycopene to be absorbed into your body. That’s why eating a few servings of tomato products a week is linked with health benefits, such as reduced risk of prostate cancer, heart disease, hypertension, osteoporosis, sun-related skin damage, and more.
I asked top dietitians to dish up their favorite tips for enjoying more processed tomato products. Check out these Top 9 Dietitian Tips for Enjoying Processed Tomatoes, and enjoy a serving of tomato products today!
Spaghetti Squash with Ratatouille
Top 9 Dietitian Tips for Enjoying More Processed Tomatoes
- Go For Processed Tomatoes Over Fresh More Often. While nothing beats a fresh tomato on the vine during the highpoint of summer, there’s a lot to love about enjoying more processed tomatoes during the year. “Lycopene, an important plant nutrient, found to be protective against cancer in laboratory work, is more easily absorbed in processed tomatoes,” says Jean Lamantia, RDN. So, try to enjoy more processed tomatoes over fresh—you can even use canned tomatoes in dishes like bruschetta, sandwich fillings, and hummus.
- Get Creative with Tomatoes. There is just so much you can do with a single can of tomatoes! “Tomatoes are a great source of lycopene, an important antioxidant known to protect against cancer, and they’re good for blood pressure and heart health. They are also an excellent source of vitamin C. Processed tomatoes are very versatile and can be used in many dishes, like chili, pasta or pizza sauce, and soups,” says Janet Brancato, MS, RDN of My Nutopia.
Chipotle Tomato Rice Power Bowl
- Load Up on Potassium. One reason tomatoes may be good for lowering blood pressure is their stash of potassium. “Tomatoes are a good source of potassium, a nutrient needed to help lower blood pressure. They’re also part of a heart-healthy Mediterranean diet,” Lisa Andrews, MEd, RD, LD, owner of Sound Bites Nutrition. So, load up on more potassium-rich tomato products in recipes, such as soups, stews, and rice dishes, like this recipe above.
- Choose Low Sodium Tomato Products. Along with potassium, it’s a good idea to limit your sodium intake for healthy blood pressure levels. “I recommend using low sodium canned tomatoes. Potassium helps to offset high sodium intake, a notable problem in today’s highly processed food diet. High sodium intake is blamed for the increasing incidence of high blood pressure,” says Wendy Rice, RDN. So, go for lower sodium tomato products, such as reduced sodium tomato juice, marinara sauce, and salsa.
Tortilla Soup
- Fight Free Radicals with Lycopene. One of the benefits of tomato’s antioxidant compounds is that it fights oxidative stress, which protects you against chronic diseases. “Tomatoes are packed with vitamins C, A, and K. Tomatoes also contain the antioxidant lycopene, which helps your body fight damaging free radicals. In some studies lycopene has demonstrated anti-cancer activity. Processing tomatoes makes the lycopene more easily absorbed, so tomato sauce, salsa, and soups are great ways to consume them,” says Wendy Kaplan, MS, RDN, CDN of Food 4 Health RD.
- Increase Your Produce Intake with Processed Tomatoes. Every time you feast on tomato products in a recipe, you are powering up your all-important vegetable intake. “The term ‘processed food’ is charged with so many emotions, unfortunately fear usually tops the list. I encourage my clients to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. We know fruits and vegetables protect our bodies against disease and we know Americans don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables; canned tomatoes offer an affordable and convenient way for us all to increase our produce intake and improve the nutrient density of our diets. Pick up a can or two next time you’re at the grocery store, you can even find “No Salt Added” varieties that are perfect for mixing into your favorite dinner recipes,” says Lindsey McCoy, RD, CSSD. Find her on Instagram @cravenutritionrd.
Easy Eggplant Parmigiana
- Stock Your Pantry with Processed Tomatoes. Make sure to always have a few cans of tomato products rolling around in your pantry, for easy, instant meal solutions. “For home kitchens, ‘preserved’ tomatoes are shelf stable, affordable, a great ingredient as part of a quick meal, a beautiful red color, count as a vegetable, and are nutritious AND delicious. So in addition to nutrition, don’t forget how many wonderful dishes contain preserved tomatoes!” says Cathy Foreman, MS, RDN, LD.
- Cooking Tomatoes Counts! The power of cooked (or processed) tomatoes, as in tomato products, is real. “You need to break the cell wall down to better access the lycopene. Cooking and crushing tomatoes makes it accessible. Watermelon is also very high in lycopene, but we don’t absorb it as well because we typically don’t cook watermelon. You’ll get more lycopene from the ketchup on your veggie-burger, than the piece of watermelon at a barbecue,” says Tina Marinaccio, RDN. So, go ahead and pile on those tomato products on your next sandwich or veggie-burger.
Chana Masala with Brown Rice
- Boost Fertility with Lycopene. More research links plant-based nutrition with increased fertility. “I recommend tomatoes, whether they are processed or fresh, to my male clients struggling with infertility. Lycopene intake is related to improved male fertility parameters, so depending on the specific condition, I will encourage intake of lycopene-rich foods like tomato products,” says Lauren Manaker MS, RDN, LD. It’s a perfect time to enjoy more recipes featuring tomatoes, such as this Chana Masala above.
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