Lycopene Dense
Tomato Basil Martini Salad
Tomatoes are highly nutritious, full of a compound called lycopene that has been shown to help prevent diabetes, macular degeneration, heart disease and infertility in men. A really good quality tomato will also have rich and varied flavours that help them to stand out in this simple preparation.
Ingredients
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 tomatoes (Heirloom are ideal)
- 3 leaves basil
- Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
- Pink Himalayan salt to taste
Instructions
- Dice the tomatoes and place in a bowl.
- Finely chop the basil leaves and add to the tomatoes.
- Add the lemon juice and salt to the tomato and basil, toss and enjoy.
Serves 2
Basil
- If you’re growing your own basil, consider utilizing it now before the first bitter frost prevents you from doing so. The herb is far too flavourful and nutritious to simply let it dwindle away in your garden. Basil is packed with iron in addition to numerous other antioxidants and phytochemicals that prevent cells from being damaged, all which add to its status as the perfect complement to any dish.
- Basil leaves compose of several health benefiting essential oils such as eugenol, citronellol, linalool, citral, limonene and terpineol. These compounds are known to have anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties.
- Zea-xanthin, a yellow flavonoid carotenoid compound, is selectively absorbed into the retinal macula lutea where it found to filter harmful UV rays from reaching the retina.
- Vitamin-K in basil is essential for many coagulant factors in the blood and plays a vital role in the bone strengthening function by helping mineralization process in the bones.