Cuban Dish #2: Cuban Sea Bass (um… Tilapia)

I am still on the mission to force health eating upon people, along with becoming more ethnically diverse, so I decided to try my hand at another Cuban dish. This time, I simply found a dish that was relatively healthy to begin with rather than editing a less healthy dish.

The recipe was for Cuban Sea Bass. However, when I go to the grocery store, I was unable to find sea bass, so I decided to settle for tilapia.

Cuban Tilapia (or whatever other fish you decide to stick in it)

2 tb olive oil

2 white onions, sliced

1-2 cloves minced garlic

4 chopped tomatoes, seeded

1.5 cups dry white wine

1/2 cup slices olives

1/4 cup drained capers

crushed red pepper

~ 1 pound of fish

1 tb butter

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1. heat olive oil in a pan/ wok and cook onions and garlic.
2. Add tomatoes, cook until soft.
3. Add wine, olives, capers, and red pepper. Allow sauce to simmer.
4. Add fish to sauce. Cook 10-15 minutes until fish is easily flaked.
5. Remove the fish from the sauce.
6. Add butter to sauce and turn up the heat. Add cilantro. Cover sauce, and allow to thicken.
7. Serve sauce over the fish.

I served my dish with fresh steamed green beans, black beans, and a brown rice/rice pilaf concoction.

It came out pretty good in my opinion. I am not a huge fan of olives, so if I did it again, I think I would omit them, but overall tasty.

I say Tomato, you say Tomahto: Antioxidant Series

Lycopene: Heinz tomato ketchup did a lot of promoting of lycopene, especially in the late 90s, but what is it?

Lycopene, is another phytonutrient! It is the bright red carotenoid pigment. It's usually associated with tomatoes, but it is also found in:

watermelon

pink grapefruit

apricots

pink guava

red bell pepper

wolfberries

Unfortunately for any raw-foodies out there, lycopene is more bioavailable after is is processed or heated. It is even better when consumed with a fat (such as olive oil). The processing is what makes ketchup and tomato sauces a good source of lycopene, whereas raw tomatoes, are not.

As per usual with antioxidants, there is a lot of missing or conflicting research. However, based on empirical data there is an inverse relationship between consumption of lycopene/serum lycopene levels and chronic diseases, including cancer.

Lycopene works it's magic by quenching free radicals on a mission to steal from your cells. In vitro, (like test-tube-lab-studies) lycopene has been shown to decrease DNA damage, decrease oxidative stress, decrease oxidation of LDL, and prevent lipid peroxidation.

In vivo, (in living creatures), lycopene's metabolism is much less understood, and its overall health benefits still remain controversial. More research is needed especially in the area of how lycopene interacts without metabolites and environmental factors.

Nonetheless, as with most antioxidants, the sources of lycopene are healthy overall. (tomatoes, watermelon, grapefruit?) If you are getting your lycopene from ketchup, just remember its sodium and sugar content, maybe try a no sodium or natural kind.

So…. how do you say tomato?

Vegan Chili

It's hard for me to post recipes, as I tend to not use them...

I've had a week off before I go back to the grind of working two jobs, starting classes full time, and starting internship again, so I decided with my free time it might be a good idea to make some food and freeze it. Today I made one of my staples: Vegan Chili.

I love making chili and soup type of dishes because they really do not require a recipe at all, you just throw in whatever you have on hand. I pretty much always have dried beans, and canned tomato around, so I generally always have the basic ingredients. the recipe below is what I happened to use today, but definitely feel free to add/ take away anything you like, dislike or just don't feel like buying. This makes a really big batch, but its great for dividing up and freezing for the future.

Vegan Chili
2 large cans whole tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can pumpkin
1 onion (I used red today)
2 hot chili peppers
1 cup/can chickpeas
1 cup kidney beans
2 cup black beans
1 cup corn
1 cup peas
1/2 cup edamame
green and red bell peppers (I just used 1 whole bag of frozen chopped mixed peppers)
2 tb olive oil
garlic
oregano
chili powder
black pepper
red pepper
hot sauce

Prepare any beans by cooking them if they are dried.
chop any raw vegetables (be careful with the hot peppers, getting hot pepper juice underneath your nails is no fun. I usually wear gloves.)

heat oil in a large pot, add garlic and onion, and cook for about 5ish minutes.

Add all other ingredients to pot.

Simmer for an hour or longer. The longer you simmer it the softer all of the ingredients will be and more blended together.

Viola! Vegan Chili!

It makes a great meal on its own, or I personally love to use it as an extra chunky spaghetti sauce. It can be topped with low fat cheese or sour cream/ regular or nondairy versions, to add a little bit of creaminess to it and cool it down if you made it a bit to spicy.