Eating sharks does NOT prevent cancer! Go figure!!!!

I came across THIS news article today and was astounded by some of the comments.  (I am helpless against reading the comment section!)
As per usual, there were people who agreed with the article, there were those who picked at the grammar and spelling, the religious people voiced their opinions, and then the conspiracy theorists showed up!

I rarely leave comments on articles and it is even more rare that I reply directly to someone's comments, and then this gem showed up....
"who can say that these so called researchers are not giving these animals this cancer 
to scare people and keep them from eating shark fin soup. and direct them to get the super expensive cancer drugs that only rich people can afford some people eats shark cause they like it and others because they think they'll get a health benefit ."
I couldn't NOT reply!

I had a couple of angelfish in my aquarium...one had a tumor on its lip and the other did not, I had both of these fish from the time they were tiny and I can assure you that I did not give my fish cancer.

Some people may like the taste of shark soup, but its not the people who utilize the entire animal that are decimating the species.
I am not sure which species of shark is primarily used in soup, all I can find is 'various types'  So I used the blacktip shark for reference....
Average weight is around 40 pounds for a mature animal.  This is including the jaw and organs, which are also able to be utilized.
If I went to the store and bought a 40 pound fish, lets assume that 25 pounds of that is meat, that comes to 400 ounces.  
My fiancee and I eat maybe 5 ounces of protein per meal.  
This would put us at 80-ish meal per shark.

80 or more meals per entire animal used versus a pot of shark fin soup....You do the math and see which would decimate a species.

Not everyone is out to get you.

Sweet Potato Tomatillo Soup

I am often inspired by prepackaged foods.  I try them, like them, and am usually horrified by the amount of salt and/or fat.  Sometimes, it takes me awhile to get up the courage to try and remake a recipe if it includes an ingredient that I am not familiar with, in this case it is the tomatillos.

As I was preparing all my veggies for roasting, I was surprised when I cut into the tomatillos...I knew they weren't the same as a tomato, but I was still surprised, haha!

Here is my version of Sweet Potato Tomatillo Soup.

4 tomatillos

2 medium size sweet potatoes

2 medium zucchini (peeled or not, it is your preference)

1 white onion

2 roma tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, chopped fine

4 cups low fat/low sodium chicken broth (you can also use vegetable broth if preferred)

olive oil

salt

white pepper

parsley

~preheat oven to 450

Chop onion and put in a medium sized saucepan with a tablespoon of olive oil over low heat, just as teh onions are getting translucent and starting to caramelize, add the chopped garlic, cook for another minute, remove from heat and set aside.

Remove husks from tomatillos, wash all veggies and peel sweet potatoes

Cut Tomatillos and tomatoes into chunks, I just cut them into 6 wedges each 

Cut zucchini into chunks about 1-2 inches

Peel and cut sweet potatoes into two inch chunks

Coat vegetables in a tablespoon of olive oil and spread into a single layer on a foil lined sheet pan, bake on the center rack in a preheated 450 degree oven for 45 minutes

When the vegetables are done roasting, remove from baking sheet into a large mixing bowl, add the onion and garlic mixture.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Using a hand mixer, blend all veggies until broken down.  The mixture will not be smooth...there is a lot of fiber in there!  You could use a blender for this and get it a lot smoother, but I prefer quite a bit of texture.

Move mixture from the bowl back into the saucepot, add chicken broth, salt, pepper, and parsley to taste. Heat over low until warmed back through, about 5 minutes.

This makes about 6 servings and it is great to have nice fresh soup on cold days!  It will freeze well also.

You can also spice this up by adding chili pepper or red pepper to taste.

I tried it out today with a little dollop of sour cream and it was super rich!