Lycopene is a red pigment found in tomatoes and other such red colored produce such as watermelon, strawberries, guava, apricots, papaya and pink grape fruit. Recently, its effects have been shown to decrease the risk of developing colorectal cancer (Tang et al 2008). It has been shown to inhibit colorectal cancer cells by suppressing an important signaling pathway that enables cancer cells to grow and survive.

The humble but lycopene-rich tomato is the star of today’s simple recipe. What a healthy, tasty addition to your cancer prevention diet! Another benefit of this scarlet soup is a much lower salt content than the canned variety.

If you’re concerned about losing the tomato’s healthful effects during the cooking process, fear not:  cooked tomatoes may be better sources of bioavailable (able to be absorbed) lycopene than fresh tomato products. This is thought to be due to the breakdown of cell walls during processing and the presence of small amounts of fat (G’artner et al 1997). Now on to the recipe, courtesy of allrecipes.com!

GARDEN FRESH TOMATO SOUP

4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes

1 sliced onion

4 whole cloves

2 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspon salt

2 teaspoons sugar, or to taste

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a stockpot, over medium heat, combine the tomatoes, onion, cloves and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and gently boil for about 20 minutes to blend all of the flavors. Remove from heat and run the mixture through a food mill into a large bowl, or pan. Discard any stuff left over in the food mill.
  2. In the now empty stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour to make a roux, cooking until the roux is a medium brown. Gradually whisk in a bit of the tomato mixture, so that no lumps form, then stir in the rest. Season with sugar and salt, and adjust to taste.
  3. Garnish however you like! I’ll be boosting my daily calcium level with a sprinkling of shredded cheese, or adding some fibre with crushed multigrain tortilla chips.

You  can read about many of the CCAC’s nutrition guidelines here.

For more information about lycopene, the American Cancer has a great, easy-to-understand info page.