Tomato Recipes for Kim M. and You :)

I tried posting this response to Kim M.'s article and it took a long time, I'm not sure if it did, so here's my post:

Great!  I have a recipe for sloppy Joe's that uses tomatoes, and we had an ode to tomato dinner the other night.  We blended a tomato and used 1/2 for a salsa and 1/2 for the pasta topping.  I added a blended jalapeño and chopped tomato and red onion to the salsa with cumin and chili pepper to taste (usually about 1/2 tsp. each).  I added blended sundried tomatoes (Dillilo's makes a great flavor) browned sausage, basil, and parmesan cheese to the other 1/2 of the tomato and added it to our pasta.  Then we chopped up some tomatoes in our salad.  I'll see if I can find my sloppy joe and pasta sauce recipe.

And here are my recipes*:

Sloppy Joes

1 lb ground turkey  I use 1/2 ground chicken, 1/2 beef.

1/2 c celery, chopped  I omit this.

1/3 c green peppers, chopped   I blend these in the food processor so they are extra fine.

1/3 c onion, chopped             k

4 medium tomatoes, crushed in blender

1/2 Tbs sea salt

1/3 Tbs pepper

Sauce Mix:

1/3 c ketchup

3 tsp honey

1 tsp mustard

1 ½ Tbs vinegar

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

¼ tsp garlic powder

Brown onion and turkey and drain.  In a saucepan, cook green peppers for 2 minutes in a little water, then drain and add to turkey.  Add the rest of the ingredients to the turkey mixture.  Cook for 1 hour and stir often.

Mix sauce-mix ingredients and add to the boiling Sloppy Joes mixture.  Cook another ½ hour. 

Ive shortened this time by adding a little less tomato and it tastes just as good.  I think they only had all the extra time to cook off the juice of the tomato and thicken the sauce.

Spaghetti Sauce

               (or green)

1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped  I blend this.

1 medium onion, chopped  I find that a little over 1/8c is enough.

4 garlic cloves, minced We find this excessive, 3 if you love garlic, 2 will work

2 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin Cumin gives it a South West flavor; we like basil instead.

1 tsp dried oregano

2 c cubed, peeled butternut squash You could ground up 1 cup to sneak in some veggies for kids and give it a subtle sweet taste.

4 large tomatoes cut up in small pieces  

I blend this too.                                                      

In a large saucepan, sauté red peppers, onion and garlic in olive oil until tender.  Stir in chili powder, cumin, oregano, butternut squash and tomatoes and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes or until squash is tender.  Serve over rice** spaghetti.  Serve with fresh green salad.

      or wheat

*From "Recipes ByGod, Heavenly Taste Healthy Benefits" inspired by Insights from the New York Times Best-Seller "Body ByGod" by Dr. Ben Lerner.

** Spaghetti made from rice flour can be found in your local health food store. Wheat flour blends can be tasty and not as firm as some wheat pastas.