No-Cook Tomato Sauce With Garlic And Fresh Basil - Vegan And Gluten Free

No-cook tomato sauce on gluten-free brown rice noodles.

Check out my ebook, Health Begins in the Kitchen.

Garden Tomatoes
Is your garden loaded with ripe tomatoes? Are you looking for ways to enjoy them?
Here's a quick and easy no-cook sauce that you can prepare in less than 30 minutes. And don't leave out the oil!  Good fats, when eaten with foods that contain lycopene (like tomatoes), have been shown to increase serum lycopene levels. Increased lycopene levels have been linked to reduced risk of coronary artery disease. That makes sense since lycopene is fat-souble.

I use a little cold-pressed hemp oil in this recipe for the beneficial omega-3 fatty acid. Hemp oil should never be heated on high temperatures as it will destroy the omega-3. You can also use extra virgin olive oil, especially if you plan to put it over direct heat. I typically use this sauce at room temperature and toss it in with hot pasta.

Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, a carotenoid associated with lowering the risk of coronary artery disease.

  
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No-Cook Tomato Sauce with Garlic and Basil
Raw Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes 1 1/2 cups]

1 pound ripe, tomatoes (about 3 good size tomatoes)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cold-pressed hemp or extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Fill a small pot of water and bring to a boil.

Wash the tomatoes. Cut out the stems and score an x on the bottom of each tomato.

Tomatoes with stems cut out and bottoms scored.

Drop the tomatoes in boiling water for 1 minutes to loosen their skins.

Parboiling helps loosen their skins.

Gently remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon and place in a colander to cool. When they are cool to touch, remove their skins.

Skins peel off easily.

Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally. Holding each half in your hand, over a sink, squeeze out the seeds and some of the juice.

Tomato halves after seeds are removed.

Chop the tomatoes and place them in a bowl with basil, garlic, oil, salt, and pepper.

Chopped tomatoes, garlic, basil, oil, salt and pepper.

Mix to combine.

Ready to eat!

Toss the room-temperature sauce with hot pasta or pour over hot polenta and serve.

Nutritional information: Note that the hemp oil provides more essential fatty acids than the olive oil.

Per one half cup of sauce (with hemp oil): 70 calories, 5 g total fat, 0.3 g saturated fat, 677 mg omega-3 and 2,792 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g protein, 7 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, and 202 mg sodium.

 Per one half cup of sauce (with extra virgin olive oil): 70 calories, 5 g total fat, 0.6 g saturated fat, 45 mg omega-3 and 565 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g protein, 7 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, and 202 mg sodium.