Delicious Recipes That Feature Lycopene-Rich Foods

Lycopene is the naturally-occurring pigment and carotenoid that makes your tomatoes red, your watermelon pink, and your carrots orange.  According to the Mayo Clinic, adults should consume between 2 and 30 milligrams of lycopene each day, which is as easy of eating a tomato or a slice of watermelon. 

As you can imagine, there are lots of delicious natural foods that contain this promising antioxidant. But if you find it difficult to consume the recommended daily dose of lycopene or simply wish to boost your current lycopene intake, try our Lycopene-15, which is produced without using any chemicals or solvents and provides a 3% (15mg/capsule) lycopene level. We are one of the few lycopene manufacturers that doesn’t use any solvents to concentrate lycopene. Instead, this is made by freeze-drying whole Roma tomatoes grown by Seagate. The lycopene level of 15 mg is what is naturally occurring in the powder as a result of removing the water.

Quick and Easy Lycopene-Rich Foods

• Marinara sauce
• Mediterranean salad with tomatoes, olives, garlic, cucumbers, and feta cheese
• Fresh salsa with chopped tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers
• Fresh apricots on oatmeal
• Grapefruit and guava juices
• Slices of juicy watermelon

Tips for Selecting and Preparing Tomatoes

• Choose tomatoes with deep, rich colors
• Select tomatoes that have smooth skin with no wrinkles, bruises, or soft spots
• Leave the seeds and skin intact, since they’re packed full of valuable nutrients
• Choose fresh tomatoes over canned tomatoes whenever possible
• Store tomatoes at room temperature and out of direct sunlight

Recipes With Lots of Lycopene

1. Carrot Salad with Honey Lemon Dressing 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons walnut oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 cups shredded carrots, (about 4 medium)
• 1 cup peeled and shredded celery root
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

• Look for celery root in the refrigerated produce section near other root vegetables. To peel it, remove the thick skin with a knife or use a vegetable peeler and peel around the root at least three times to remove all the fibrous skin.
• Whisk oil, lemon juice, honey, shallot, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
• Add carrots, celery root, raisins and walnuts; toss to combine.

2. Tomato Dandelion Salad

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 medium sized onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup hot water
• 2 large red ripe tomatoes
• 3 cups chopped young dandelion greens
• 2 tablespoonsfresh basil cut into large pieces

Dressing:

• 1-1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse cracked black pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil to taste
• 1 oz crumpled goat cheese

DIRECTIONS

• Thinly slice onion and place in a small bowl. Pour light vinegar and hot water over onions and marinate while making rest of salad.
• Whisk together dressing ingredients adding oil at end a little at a time.
• Rinse and chop dandelion greens. Place in basket of a salad spinner, rinse and spin dry. Toss dandelion greens with 2/3 of the dressing.
• Cut tomatoes in half crosswise and squeeze out juice. Cut into quarters, remove inner pulp and slice. Place on greens.
• Squeeze dry marinated onions and lay on top of sliced tomatoes and greens. Drizzle the rest of the dressing over tomatoes, onion and top with basil and goat cheese if desired.

3. Watermelon Gazpacho

INGREDIENTS

• 8 cups finely diced seedless watermelon
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar 
  
• 2 tablespoons minced shallot
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

• Mix watermelon, cucumber, bell pepper, basil, parsley, vinegar, shallot, oil and salt in a large bowl.
• Puree 3 cups of the mixture in a blender or food processor to the desired smoothness; transfer to another large bowl.
• Puree another 3 cups and add to the bowl. Stir in the remaining diced mixture.
• Serve at room temperature or chilled.

  

  This is how a healthy reef community should appear. Sometimes I feel like I am documenting these coral reefs in advance of their destruction from global-warming.