Tips For Preparing Tomatoes

So yesterday, we brought you an article on a 4 health benefits of eating tomatoes. The feedback was okay and we got some people asking us some questions.

One wanted to know if she has to boil them or just consume them raw.

Another also wanted to know if it’s possible to drink a raw blended tomato.

Let’s start with second question. Yes, tomatoes can be blended or chopped and eaten raw with boiling them.

As a matter of fact, eating them raw gives you access to all the essential nutrients needed for good health.

However, we all know we can use them in preparing stew or soup.

Hence consider the following tips in case you prefer boiling them before consuming.

Tips;

1. Wash thoroughly

Before serving, wash tomatoes under cool running water and pat dry. This helps to get rid of any dirt that may be stuck on the skin.

2. Consider the seeds

If your recipe requires seeded tomatoes, cut the fruit in half horizontally and gently squeeze out the seeds and the juice. However, we encourage you to think about the recipe and consider whether the tomato could be incorporated with seeds intact. There are simply too many valuable nutrients in the seeds that you would not want to lose unnecessarily.

3. Don’t Cook in Aluminum Cookwares

When cooking tomatoes, we recommend avoidance of aluminum cookware since the high acid content of the tomatoes may interact with the metal in the cookware. As a result, there may be migration of aluminum into the food, which may not only impart an unpleasant taste, but more importantly, may have a potentially unwanted impact on your health.

4. Consider Using the Whole Fruit When Cooking

Whenever possible, try to develop recipes that make use of the whole tomato. We’ve seen research showing higher lycopene content in whole tomato products. For example, when the skins of tomatoes are included in the making of the tomato paste, the lycopene and beta-carotene content of the paste is significantly higher according to research studies.

5. Don’t overcook it as doing so may get rid of all the needed nutrients for good health