Tomato : a veg or fruit?

Tomato can be both- a veg or a fruit. If i eat it raw, then it's a fruit, but when cooked it's a vegetable. That's what tomato is to me :)

I love cooked tomatoes. It is soft, smooth and easy to digest. It added that colour and sweet - sourly flavour to my clear soups. Simply delicious. And do you know that eating cooked tomato is better than raw? I know that most of the vitamin C is lost from the cooking process, but you can always find Vit C from other food sources. But here's what we will be benefiting from cooked tomotoes..

"Tomatoes have long been known to be a good source of lycopene, the phytochemical which makes them red but which also has significant antioxidant properties. Now new research has shown that this antioxidant power can be boosted even more through the simple act of cooking the tomatoes."

Now, that you know, you will find tomatoes in most of my soup recipes because I simply loved it!

Hundred-and-one goodness of Watercress

I was introduced to this tiny leafy vegetable by my Cantonese husband. This bunch of vegetable is popular with the Chinese. Not known to many Malays of it's hundred-and-one goodness, I would like to extend my recommendation to have this vegetable in their next shopping list to the market.

"watercress contains more vitamin C than oranges, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach and more folate than bananas."
"other essential vitamins and minerals and also phytochemicals. These include vitamins B1, B6, E and K; the minerals calcium, iodine, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, zinc and magnesium, plus natural plant compounds such as beta carotene and lutein and zeaxanthin which are so good for keeping eyes healthy."

Recent research has shown watercress to be effective as an anti-cancer agent, specifically with regard to aiding the elimination of lung cancer causing substances in smokers.

Watercress ~ it's tiny leaflets have a very distinctive flavour, can be bought at either the wet market and supermarket. It used to be unattractive as it was "unclean"- meaning, it is sold with the roots still intact. But all you need to do is cut the root ends, clean and wash,and ready to cook. These days, most markets had it all cleaned- no roots. It costs less than S$1/bunch. It deteriorates very fast, so the vegetable is best cooked on the same day it is bought and consumed immediately.


My-very-own-recipe: Watercress Chicken Soup
Time : 30mins
Serves : 2-4

Step 1: Preparing the soup
Place all the ingredients into a pot of water and bring to boil.

1> 2-4 drumsticks - marinate with light sauce, pepper and sesame oil
2> 3 garlic, crushed
3> 1 onion, diced
4> 2 cm ginger root, sliced
5> 1 pc bean curd- cut into squares
6> 1 cup of button mushroom
7> 1 tomato- cut into 4's

** optional :
2-3 red dates
2 table spoon of wolfberry**

Add salt and pepper for taste. (optional : Chicken stock)

Step 2: Add the vegetable

Add 2 bunch of watercress and bring to boil for another 1-2mins. Do not over cooked the watercress.

Note: you can substitute watercress to any other leafy vegetables like spinach.


Step 3 : Ready to serve

Served hot and consume immediately.

Bean curd, mushrooms and tomato are added ingredient variety to the soup which can be optional. But it is a truly a nutritious herbal soup when the other ingredients such as wolfberry and red dates are added and boiled at the very beginning.