12 Best Foods: Tomatoes
What makes tomatoes stand out as one of the 12 best foods, according to Dana Jacobi, is their abundance of lycopene. Lycopene, combined with a wide range of other beneficial phytochemicals that tomatoes possess, help protect us against cancers and heart attacks. Tomatoes are also rich in vitamins A and C, and are a good source of potassium.
Cooked tomatoes - including canned tomatoes and paste, juice, tomato soup, and ketchup - contain up to eight times more available lycopene than raw tomatoes. (Be especially generous with ketchup on charcoal-grilled burgers to benefit from substances in it that inhibit the formation of carcinogenic compounds associated with eating charred meat.) Fresh tomatoes are so loaded with other good substances that eating one or more servings a day of both raw and cooked or processed tomatoes is useful.
- from 12 Best Foods Cookbook
Tomatoes are so ubiquitous that it was difficult to find a recipe in this book that did not contain them. I finally opted for this Mexican Chicken Stew with Black Beans, mostly because I already had most of the ingredients on hand, and I was intrigued with a Mexican dish that used paprika instead of cumin.
Unfortunately, I think it suffered without the cumin. The paprika made a nice smoky addition, and it would have blended quite nicely with the toasty flavor of cumin. But even with the oregano, the dish has only one flavor note and, while good, was not great. I wouldn’t make this again without seriously playing with the spices.
1 large skinless whole chicken breast with ribs (1-1/2 lbs.), cut in 4 pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
1 15-oz. can black beans, drained
Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken pieces 12 minutes, turning them once. Remove the chicken to a plate.
Add the remaining oil to the pan and saute the onion, pepper, and garlic until the onion is soft, 5 minutes. Mix in the cilantro, paprika, and oregano just until they are fragrant. Add the tomatoes with their liquid and the beans. When the liquid starts to boil, return the chicken to the skillet. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered until the chicken is cooked through, 20 minutes.
Per serving: 182 calories, 6 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 12 g protein, 21 g carbohydrates, 8 g fiber
