I'm not sure if the name makes it sound like I think I'm Jimi Hendrix or a Colorado entrepreneur, but nevertheless, that's what it is. It's hash. (The potato kind, you trouble-maker.) And it's purple.
Very creative, no?
What makes this hash "cancer-fighting?" Why, the fact that it's purple, of course!
A good rule of thumb is to choose vegetables that have darker pigments. The pigments are, in the least technical terms, the cancer fighters.
Let's talk ingredients, though.
Petite Purple Potatoes
Say that three times fast. Or don't. I can't hear you anyway.
Purple potatoes (or blue potatoes, as I like to say, despite the fact that my husband says, "It calls them purple right on the bag!") are interesting because they contain anthocyanins and chlorogenic acid. These aren't broken down in the cooking process, according to Dr. Li in Eat to Beat Disease. Anthocyanins suppress cell proliferation, inflammation, and angiogenesis and induces apoptosis. They also wipe out cancer stem cells, so I try to eat them frequently.
The resistant starches are also really important for our gut bacteria that produce butyric acid, another cancer fighter.
*Note, purple potatoes still raise your insulin, so you need to watch your portion sizes!
White Button Mushrooms
I thought white button mushrooms were like the Walmart of the mushroom world. They're accessible and cheap, but they ain't all that good. I thought, why eat those when there are other, good mushrooms to be had?
I was wrong, though. White button mushrooms actually suppress aromatase while also suppressing the androgen receptors, tumor growth, and they have been shown to promote apoptosis in certain cancers like prostate cancer. So, fellas, eat your mushrooms.
(Also, notice the one perfect mushroom in the center of the plate? My oldest daughter cut the mushrooms and she was proud of that one because it was perfect. So, I placed it on top for the photo. She's cute.)
Garlic
Yes, this recipe calls for a lot of garlic. Garlic is pretty well known for its cancer fighting abilities. It is well studied and exhibits anti-angiogenesis effects, induces apoptosis, and potentially could affect multiple cancer pathways. The best part about garlic for cancer patients, though, is that it increases the number of natural killer (NK) cells in our blood. That's cool because natural killer cells kill cancer cells... naturally.
My awesome dietician recommends eating a couple of whole cloves a day, so we eat lots of garlic.
Celery and Parsley
Yep, these actually have benefits for cancer. Weird, I know. Celery and parsley both contain apigenin which, according to my research, inhibit MDM-2. We want that because MDM-2 inhibits the p53 gene, which is the biggest check for cancer there is. We want that sucker turned on and working at full throttle. A lot of cancers have a p53 mutation. I don't quite understand the biology of this yet, but I hope to do some more studying and make sense of that entire pathway and what it means for those with a p53 mutation, but either way, it is worth eating an extra celery stick here.
A note on other ingredients:
We use avocado oil for cooking. Yes, olive oil is fantastic. Everybody loves olive oil. However, it has a low smoke point. When oils are cooked above their smoke point, they create carcinogenic compounds. I know I can't avoid all carcinogens, but I try to avoid them when I can. For this reason, we use olive oil in only minimally cooked foods and dressings.
If you need a quick breakfast, you can chop all of your veggies the night before. A nice thing about purple potatoes is that they don't discolor the same as white potatoes!
Alright, now that you sat through the lecture, I'll reward you with a delicious breakfast.
I mean, kind of.
You just have to buy the ingredients.
And, you know.. cook it.
Purple Hash
1 lb. petite purple potatoes, quartered
3 stalks celery, sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced
6 button mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup fresh parsley
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 Tablespoons avocado oil
1 teaspoon marsala wine
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon thyme
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While oven is preheating, chop vegetables. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, wine, salt, thyme, and parsley. Toss vegetables in oil mixture and bake until potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Enjoy!
❤
Eat to Beat Disease, Dr. Li
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