Tomato Feta Salad for "Combat Cancer 2"

Many bloggers have brought two very important events to my attention with their support for two events that have caught my eye and my heart strings. First I made Lemony Goat Cheese & Asparagus Stuffed Rouladen for Barbara’s LiveSTRONG with a Taste of Yellow event to support cancer awareness.

Chris at Melle Cotte , and a cancer survivor herself, has an event Combat Cancer 2 . It is an event about the support of our friends and family members who have been touched by cancer. Many of us have suffered the loss of a relative or someone close to you who has been hit by this illness, or, perhaps we are battling and winning over the disease ourselves. Working for a respirologist I see friends and patients every day struggling with the disease. We just need to give the big "C" the old one two... the big heave ho.... a kick in the butt with research and knowledge. The more informed we are the better we are able to help ourselves and be a support for those who are struggling.

Many in the food and wine blogging community will be supporting this event with recipes calling for a "cancer fighting food". Some choose to share their own cancer experiences and some tell stories of their support for their friends or family experiencing cancer.

In honour of this event and to show my support I chose to embrace the TOMATO. The anti-cancer compound in tomatoes, lycopene, has been shown to be especially potent in combating prostate cancer. In addition to preventing prostate cancer, lycopene may also protect against breast, lung, stomach, and pancreatic cancer.

There are many Cancer Fighting Foods and Spices. This list of 11 Cancer Fighting Foods may be of interest to lead a healthy life with or without the disease. Kick it in the butt!

Now that Spring is officially here (insert picture of Val once again with fingers and toes crossed) I have definitely moved over to salads. This recipe comes from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa herself from her cookbook "Barefoot Contessa at Home". I have been making wonderful things from her cookbooks of late. Ina never seems to fail me with any of the recipes I try of hers so I thought I would give this Greek inspired dish a try. Add a touch of turmeric, a chili pepper or a clove of garlic and serve it with a glass of red wine and you will be fighting cancer BIG TIME with the cancer fighting properties of these foods.

**Tomato Feta Salad**

3 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
12 ounces feta cheese, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 small red onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine or champagne vinegar
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

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Cut the tomatoes in half and place them in a large bowl. Add the onion, vinegar, salt, olive oil, pepper, basil and parsley and toss well. Dice the feta into 1/2 - 3/4-inch cubes, crumbling it as little as possible. Gently fold it into the salad and serve at room temperature.