Summer Food Synergies

+ Grilled Eggplant with Tomato Sauce, Yogurt & Herbs recipe

Peanut butter and jelly, cookies and milk, spaghetti and meatballs---these are the Fred-and-Gingers of the food world, duos that are so iconic you can hardly think of one without the other. Each is excellent on its own, but when they are together real magic happens.  While many culinary couples become classics simply because of their synergistic taste and textures, some foods also enhance each other nutritionally so that when eaten together they are substantially healthier than they would be eaten separately. Like Fred and Ginger, these summer-centric food pairings have unbeatable chemistry.

Tomatoes + Olive Oil

            The only thing that tastes better than a ripe tomato is one that has been drizzled with good extra-virgin olive oil. And it’s hard to imagine making tomato sauce or gazpacho without adding the fruity oil. It turns out this winning combination does a whole lot more than taste good. The oil makes it possible for your body to absorb the tomato’s potent fat-soluble antioxidants, such as lycopene, which benefits every organ in the body, especially the skin and heart. Any oil is better than none, but olive oil, studies show, increases the antioxidant absorption from tomatoes more than most other oils do, plus it has an unbeatable flavor that makes the tomato sing, so it’s a perfect partner.

Salad + Eggs

“Put an egg on it” is a meme nowadays, with the idea that you can add an egg to just about any dish ---toasts, salads, hashes, vegetable stews---and make it a meal.  A small study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that beyond adding affordable sustenance, eating a whole, cooked egg with a raw vegetable salad could also help you absorb the carotenoids (a class of antioxidants, including beta-carotene) from the vegetables better. Researchers think it has something to do with the fat and other compounds in the yolk, so you need to use the whole egg rather than just the whites. Scrambled, poached, boiled or fried, pair one up with your next salad or vegetable-based meal.

Yogurt + Produce

By now you know that yogurt is rich in probiotics, the good bacteria that help keep your digestive system and, in turn, your whole body healthy. Once you get the probiotics into your system, you need to feed them so they stay and thrive. Their food of choice is fiber, and fruit and vegetables are among the best sources of it. You don’t have to eat probiotics and fiber at the same time to get the synergistic effect, but since yogurt and fruit taste so good together and make for such a satisfying meal or snack, and yogurt added to vegetable dishes makes them sumptuously creamy, as in the recipe below, why wouldn’t you?