Category Archives: tomatoes

gazpacho

Gazpacho Recipe

by lunch, produce, recipes, tomatoes, vegetables, vegetarian

Gazpacho is a cool, delicious summer soup.  Originally from the Andalusia region of Spain, it's a chilled version of summer salad in soup form. I've even seen it referred to as liquid salad. That term always struck me as a bit silly. It's either a soup or it's a salad. Except, as it turns out, if it's gazpacho. Then it's sort of both.

The original version calls for bread cubes, preferably a little stale, however I don't think they're necessary. There are also versions that include chopped ham but, again, I don't think you really need that. I love gazpacho with just the vegetables. It's so easy to make, very refreshing, and a great way to get a heaping serving of veggies into your day.

This version came about when my daughter and I were trying to figure out what to make for lunch one hot Texas summer day. Rummaging through the fridge we realized that we had all of the ingredients on hand to make gazpacho.  With the temperatures rising into the 90's this cool, flavorful soup was a great idea. 

The texture of gazpacho is rather a personal preference. My daughter prefers it extra chunky, I prefer a smaller dice.  You can also lightly blend all of the ingredients together to make a smoother style soup.  Additionally, traditional recipes call for you to remove some of the vegetables and puree them to make it the soup-y bit. We chose to use the shortcut method and simply added some tomato juice. Any way you make it it's delicious.
gazpacho

Gazpacho

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cucumber
  • 2 large tomatoes
  • 1 small vidalia onion
  • 1 sweet bell pepper
  • 2 stalks of celery
  • 1 zucchini or yellow squash
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 1/4 C. red wine vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Diced avocado
  • chopped cilantro

Instructions
 

  • Dice all vegetables through zucchini
  • Add garlic, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper
  • Cover with:
    tomato juice (we didn't measure - just poured until it covered the veggies)
    place in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours
  • To serve:
    Ladle into a bowl
    Drizzle with olive oil
    Garnish with diced avocado and chopped cilantro
    Enjoy!
 
 

Eightball

by gluten free, grains, recipes, tomatoes, vegetables, vegetarian

Our farm share is including some neat vegetables that I haven't seen before including these cute little eight-ball squash.  They are a type of round zucchini.

 As I've mentioned in a previous post zucchini are great and have a lot of health benefits.  They are also a versatile vegetable and can be served a number of different ways.  The eight-balls seem ideal for stuffing because who would want to cut them up and cook them, destroying that cute shape?  Having some leftover quinoa from when I last made quinoa taboule (I always double quinoa when I cook it because we eat so much of it) I decided to create a quinoa stuffing to fill these little beauties.   This turned out to be so delicious that we can't wait to get more of these squash to make it again.
Quinoa Stuffed Eight-ball Squash
4 eight-ball squash, washed
2 C. cooked quinoa
1/2 C. roasted tomatoes in oil, diced
2 scallions, diced
1 clove garlic diced
2 T. chopped basil
1 t. salt
2 T. olive oil
pre-heat oven to 400 F
cut tops off of squash and set aside
scoop out inside of squash being sure to leave a layer of flesh to maintain the shape
place hollowed out squash into oven proof dish
roughly chop squash 
heat olive oil in a large sauce pan
add squash to pan and saute until starting to soften
add tomatoes, scallions, garlic, and basil and saute 2 minutes
add quinoa and toss to mix well
add salt and toss again
turn off heat, fill squash with mixture
place tops back on squash and place in oven
bake 20 minutes
Enjoy!

Loving Lycopene

by tomatoes, vegetables

In my recent post on peppers I mentioned lycopene.  I thought I would mention just a little more about it because it is so beneficial to us.  Lycopene is a carotenoid that produces red color.  There are other carotenoids like beta-carotene, zeaxanthin or lutein; carotenoids produce yellow, orange or red colors in our food.  There is some evidence to suggest the possibility that a diet high in lycopene may be helpful in protecting against prostate cancer although more research is needed.  It is also believed to be helpful in preventing or treating macular degeneration, cataracts and skin cancer.


Lycopene is fat soluble, which means your body absorbs it best when you eat it with some fat.  Think sliced tomatoes with fresh basil and a generous drizzle of a good quality extra-virgin olive oil.   Avocados are another good source of fat to pair with a juicy ripe red tomato.


You don't find lycopene just in red peppers or red tomatoes, it's also there in watermelon, pink guavas, pink grapefruit and papayas.  As we get closer to real-tomato-season (as opposed to the tomato-looking things currently in the grocery store) think about fresh salsa, homemade tomato sauce, gazpacho and other delicious dishes to boost your lycopene.  And if you haven't tried guavas or papayas give them a chance, they're tasty and wonderful just the way they are.

photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Creamer And Meatless Meals

by legumes, protein, questions, substitutions, tomatoes

My friend Karen recently asked me what she could use for a substitute for vanilla cinnamon Coffeemate creamer.  She would like to give up the artificial ingredients in the creamer.  The best substitute that I can think of is to flavor a half pint of light cream with the amount of vanilla and fresh ground cinnamon (which will be stronger than the already ground stuff).  Mix it all together and keep in the fridge until you need it.  A half pint is 8 ounces and should remain good for approximately 10 days.  The cream really is not that bad for you if you are simply using a small amount for flavor and smoothness.  Of course if you are one of those people who take a little coffee with your cream this is not going to work.

Another question was what is a legume and how can she incorporate more meatless meals into the family diet.  First the definition of a legume:  Legume refers to plants or their fruit of the leguminosae family.  The simple answer is lentils, beans, peas and peanuts.  There are others such as alfalfa, carob, etc but let's stick with the first four.
Making meatless meals is very easy, just substitute a bean or lentil for the meat in a recipe and you're good to go.  In one of my previous posts I mentioned our favorite vegetarian shepherd's pie which is an excellent and tasty dish for a meatless dinner.  We also make taco salad substituting black beans for the meat with taco seasoning, crush tortilla chips in the bottom of the bowl and everyone dresses their own salad with diced tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, shredded cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and salsa; it's a very tasty dinner.  Another great choice is a baked potato bar, I prefer to use sweet potatoes, with broccoli, beans, other vegetables and sauces to taste.  
Of course if you are looking for new recipes rather than converting recipes you already have there are some great resources on the web.  These can be found at:

  • AllRecipes twenty-for-twenty – a great list of 20 ingredients that combined create 20 dinners
  • Vegetarian Times – a neat feature here is the ability to use checkboxes to define your search by season, cuisine, meal-type, appliance and more
  • Recipe Source – formerly the SOAR, this is a list of the vegetarian recipes in the archive

    • I'm sure there are many others but these are the ones that I like the most.

    Pick A Peck

    by tomatoes, vegetables

    I was talking with a friend, Danielle, the other day and she mentioned that she didn't really like vegetables.  It's funny, since I am a Nutrition Educator people somehow feel they have to confess their dietary habits to me.  Whether they don't eat vegetables or they like soda.  What they don't realize it that I'm not here to pass judgement on anyone.  If you want to improve your nutrition, need support for changing food habits, or need information to help with health issues, I'm happy to help.  But I truly don't spend my time making pronouncements about someone else's food habits;  if I did that I wouldn't be a very fun person to hang out with.


    In talking to Danielle about her non-vegetable habit she did share that she likes peppers.  A lot.  While there are a lot of different kinds of peppers (capsicum) from chili peppers to cayenne, I realized that she was talking about sweet, or bell, peppers (capsicum annuum) which are available in a few different colors.  They are all the same fruit (yes, like tomatoes peppers are a fruit because the seeds are on the inside) and the color mostly indicates ripeness.

    Bell peppers are a member of the nightshade (solanaceae) family, similar to potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplant.  Nightshade vegetables are noted for being very high in alkaloids which is an inflammatory substance.  Nightshade vegetables should be avoided by those who have arthritis or other joint difficulties because alkaloids and other inflammatory substances are very hard on their system.

    Green bell peppers are the most common ones found in the supermarket.  They are also the least expensive.  This is because they are not fully ripe.  They are also not as sweet as their colored counterparts.  If left on the plant a green bell pepper will become either yellow or orange.  If left further it will become red.  As a pepper progresses through the growth process it becomes sweeter and the vitamin content changes.  Of the colors red bell peppers are highest in vitamin A, vitamin C, and beta carotene.  Red peppers also contain lycopene which is gaining a lot of positive press as a carotinoid that appears to lower the risk for prostate, cervix and other cancers.  Green bell peppers have more vitamin A and beta carotene than yellow or orange ones.  

    Bell peppers are also a good source of fiber, vitamin K and folate.  They make an easy and tasty addition to almost any dish and can be cooked in a wide variety of ways.  My favorite way is to sautee them with onions and garlic, but grilling them comes in a close second.  Diced and sprinkled on top of a salad or tacos they are delicious.  Stuffed and baked is another tasty way to serve them.   There are many more ways to incorporate them into your diet.

    Although I certainly suggest eating a wide variety of vegetables, and lots of them, every day, peppers are certainly one way to get some fiber and some nutrients into your system.

    Be well.

    photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

    Ratatouille

    by crockpot, recipes, tomatoes, ,

    Not the movie, the food.  Even though we are slated to have a high of 75 F today it's a great day to make ratatouille.  In part because I have a lot of running around to do and my crock pot makes it very easy to get dinner on the table in spite of that.  The other reason is that eggplants were particularly beautiful at the grocery store yesterday so I bought one.  Glossy, firm, no wrinkles, that's the way to pick a good eggplant.  

     
    Eggplants are related to the nightshade family (along with potatoes, tomatoes, and sweet peppers, so those who are sensitive to nightshades should avoid them) and are actually fruits because their seeds are on the inside.  They have many wonderful health benefits including a fair amount of fiber (if eaten with the skin), lots of potassium and vitamin B1, also known as thiamin.  
     
    To be honest, in our house making ratatouille is an inexact science.  The base ingredients are: eggplant, onion, tomatoes, sweet peppers, garlic, olive oil, pitted olives, basil, salt, pepper, and parsley.
     
    How much of which ingredient depends on what we have available.  I know that's not really helpful so here are the proportions I used today.  
     

    Ratatouille

    Print Recipe Pin Recipe

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 medium size eggplant diced
    • 1 medium onion diced
    • 2 zucchini cut into 1/2" rounds
    • 2 peppers (one red one green) chopped medium
    • 2 large tomatoes diced
    • 1 t. dried basil
    • 1 t. dried parsley
    • salt and pepper

    Instructions
     

    • Layer it all in the crockpot
    • Pour a 14.5 ounce can of diced organic tomatoes over the batch
    • Let it cook on low for 7-9 hours until it is done

    Notes

    I plan to serve this ladled over freshly made polenta with a generous shaving of fresh parmesan on top for a delicious, filling meal.

    Polenta

    Print Recipe Pin Recipe

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 C. fresh ground cornmeal
    • 1 t. salt
    • 3 C. water

    Instructions
     

    • Bring water and salt to a boil
    • Reduce water to a simmer
    • Very slowly add cornmeal (this is important to avoid lumps)
    • Cook approximately 20 minutes until mixture thickens
    • Remove from heat and pour into a pie plate (for triangles) or a cake pan (for squares)
    • Let polenta set for 10-15 minutes
    • Cut and serve
    • Enjoy and be well.