Healthy Recipes for Foods with Lycopene

What is lycopene? Lycopene is the carotenoid that makes tomatoes red, carrots orange and gives pink grapefruit and watermelon a pink-red hue. Consuming more lycopene may keep your skin smooth and protect it from sunburn, just two of the health benefits of lycopene. These healthy tomato recipes, carrot recipes, grapefruit recipes and watermelon recipes are good sources of lycopene and healthy recipes for dinner, side dishes and dessert. Get more lycopene into your diet with these recipes.
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Spaghetti with Quick Meat Sauce

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Instead of opening a jar of sauce, try this easy spaghetti with meat sauce on a weeknight. Serve with steamed broccoli and garlic bread. The recipe makes enough for 8 servings. If you're serving only four for dinner, cook 8 ounces of spaghetti and freeze the leftover sauce.

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Carrot Salad with Honey-Lemon Dressing

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Here we combine carrots and celery root (also known as celeriac) in a quick shredded slaw. Try it as a change from an ordinary mixed green salad.

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Watermelon Gazpacho

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The delicate flavors of cucumber and watermelon go hand in hand to create a sweet-and-savory chilled soup, perfect as a first course on a hot night.

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Grapefruit Chicken Satay Salad

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This tossed salad borrows the basic flavors of Thai satay and turns them into a rich and satisfying entree salad.

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Garden Tomato Sauce

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This garden-fresh tomato sauce is a delicious way to use summer-ripe tomatoes. Or freeze whole tomatoes and make this sauce later on in the winter. Just remove the cores and freeze them whole. Then, turn your frozen tomatoes into a garden-fresh sauce any time of the year. For pizza sauce: In Step 2, cook until thickened to about the consistency of pizza sauce, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove from the heat, transfer to a blender, add 2 tablespoons tomato paste and blend until smooth.

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Mixed Green Salad with Grapefruit & Cranberries

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Grapefruit juice is the base for the tangy vinaigrette on this salad studded with grapefruit segments and dried cranberries. It serves 12 as a starter or about 6 if you'd like a large portion per person.

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Tomato Soup

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This simple tomato soup is perfect paired with your favorite grilled cheese sandwich. Make a double batch and freeze the extra for rainy-day emergencies.

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Lemony Carrot Salad

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Tangy lemon and fresh dill make a bright dressing for shredded carrots.

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Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

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This zesty Cajun-style pasta is full of lean chicken, peppers and onions. Serve with sautéed green beans.

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Grapefruit Brulee

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Top grapefruit slices with a little butter and brown sugar and run them under the broiler for an easy, healthy dessert.

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Watermelon-Blueberry Ice Pops

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These were a staff favorite during the development process. The whole blueberries in these pops have the look of watermelon seeds.

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Carrot Soup

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This easy carrot soup recipe is a great way to use up a bag of carrots that were forgotten in your produce drawer. The carrots cook together with aromatics like onions, garlic and fresh herbs before being puréed into a silky smooth soup that's delicious for dinner or packed up for lunch.

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Spanish-Inspired Tomato Salad

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This simple salad, topped with crunchy garlicky breadcrumbs, is the perfect vehicle to showcase a unique, colorful mix of tomatoes--any size, shape or color will be delicious. While sherry vinegar adds a special touch, red-wine vinegar works too.

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Salsa Palermitana (Palermo-Style Sauce)

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This wine-based sauce of cherry tomatoes, olives and capers gets a tangy punch from plenty of lemon. Serve over pasta or grilled or roasted fish. Have some warm, crusty bread on hand to soak up any extra sauce.

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Savory Carrot & Tarragon Tart

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The bright orange carrots in this savory tart are a feast for the eyes and the palate. Tarragon lends bold flavor to the tart. Other herbs, such as thyme or rosemary, would be delicious too.

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Watermelon-Yogurt Ice

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Inspired by creamy watermelon sherbet, our light and refreshing dessert captures the essence of summer.

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Cod with Tomato Cream Sauce

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This silky tomato sauce with a touch of cream makes mild-flavored cod sing. Serve with: Farro or rice and a salad of mixed greens.

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Sesame-Honey Tempeh & Quinoa Bowl

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Here we toss tempeh with a honey-sesame sauce and serve it over quinoa and shredded carrots for a satisfying vegetarian meal. Serve with sesame breadsticks.

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Watermelon Salsa

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Sweet, savory and crunchy salsa accompanies grilled pork or chicken rather nicely. Try it with tortilla chips as a refreshing alternative to a tomato salsa.

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Tomato-Corn Pie

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Tomatoes and corn have a natural affinity for one another: the slight acidity of tomatoes balances the sweetness of the corn. Here they partner in a delicious quiche-like pie. The dough is very forgiving and bakes up into a sturdy shell that's great for just about any savory pie or tart. Perfect for a summer brunch or try it with a tossed salad for a light supper.

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North African Spiced Turkey with Avocado-Grapefruit Relish

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The spice crust for the turkey cutlets is based upon a Berber blend from North Africa. The honeyed grapefruit relish provides a lively contrast to the richly spiced turkey.

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Roasted Tomato-Bread Soup

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Tomatoes, onions and garlic develop a deep, rich flavor when roasted. A mix of different colored cherry tomatoes will add a playful note. This soup is adapted from a recipe in Amy Goldman's book The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table (Bloomsbury USA, 2008).

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Hot & Sour Carrots

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The hot-and-sour sauce on these quick sautéed carrots is not for the timid palate. They have an abundance of bold, spicy flavor. Try them with steamed white fish and brown rice.

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Watermelon Sorbet

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This incredibly refreshing icy dessert is made without using an ice cream maker.

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Iberian-Style Sausage & Chicken Ragu

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This hearty sausage and chicken ragù was inspired by a fabulous stew Bruce Aidells enjoyed when he was traveling in Spain. Serve it over a heartier pasta, such as whole-wheat penne, or gnocchi. Garnish with grated sheep's-milk cheese, such as Manchego.

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Half-Hour Chili

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This truly tasty half-hour vegetarian chili is made possible by using convenient canned beans and tomatoes (no pantry should be without them). Whole-grain bulgur adds another layer of toothsome texture and nutritional heft. This chili is relatively mild, so it's a good crowd-pleaser. If you like it spicy, add extra chili powder or serve with hot sauce.

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Steak Bun

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“Bun” is a Vietnamese noodle dish typically made with cold rice noodles, lots of crunchy vegetables and thinly sliced beef or pork all tossed in a sweet and tangy sauce. It's perfect for a hot summer night. Serve with sliced mango and iced mint green tea.

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Rag alla Bolognese (Classic Bolognese Meat Sauce)

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This is a version of the famous meat sauce of Emilia Romagna, of which Bologna is the capital. Giuliano Hazan's family is from Emilia Romagna, and he learned to make Bolognese sauce from his mother, Marcella, who learned it from her grandmother, Mary. Its classic pairing is with homemade tagliatelle or pappardelle but it's also very good with rigatoni, shells or any substantial pasta shape, preferably one with ridges, that has nooks and cavities to trap the sauce. Adapted from How to Cook Italian by Giuliano Hazan; Scribner, 2005.

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Carrot Puree with Hazelnut Tapenade

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This carrot-potato puree has an amazing silky-smooth texture. We give it a sophisticated touch with a quick tapenade made with green olives, orange zest, hazelnuts and garlic. For a simpler dish, just make the puree and skip the topping.

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Watermelon & Goat Cheese Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

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The contrasting flavors and textures of crisp, sweet watermelon and creamy, tangy goat cheese are magical partners. Top with sliced grilled chicken to make it a meal.

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