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Healthy Cooking

You can make better choices at home by how you pick your foods and cook your foods. Focusing on healthy cooking is all about cutting down the fats and calories. In addition, healthy cooking is also about learning to eat nutritious foods. These foods are vegetables, fruits, whole grain products, lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, and low-fat dairy products. When you use healthy cooking methods to cook these foods, it will keep the nutrients and flavor without adding more amounts of fat or salt. Cooking with butter or margarine is not healthy cooking because butter and margarine are loaded with saturated fats and trans fats, to learn more about saturated and trans fats; click on good fats vs bats fats to take you to another page. If you are looking to lose weight, maintain your weight, eat healthier, or want to stop frying your foods all the time, then invest your time in some healthy cooking. When you use the basic healthy cooking methods below to cook your foods, you are incorporating important healthy eating habits into your lifestyle.

Baking:

The technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat action of convection is called baking. Baking does not usually require you to add fat to the food, so baking is considered a form of healthy cooking. Slow baking or braising is when water or broth is put in the bottom of a closed pan and let the steam come up around the food. Seafood, poultry, meat, vegetables, and fruits can be baked. These foods can be covered or uncovered while baking.

Grilling and Broiling:

Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat from below applied to the surfaces of food. In the United States, it is considered broiling when the heat source comes from above. When you use these cooking methods, the fat from the foods drips away from what is being grilled or broiled, which results in healthy cooking.

Roasting:

Roasting usually causes caramelization or browning of the surface of the food, which is a flavor enhancement. During the roasting process, the hot air circulates around the meat, cooking all the sides evenly. Roasting has 3 applications and they are oven or slow roasting; spit roasting; or pot roasting. Foods that are suitable for roasting in a oven are cuts of meat, poultry, potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, pumpkin, and carrots. For poultry, seafood, and meats; place a rack inside the roasting pan so the fat in the food can drip away during cooking and that would be considered healthy cooking.

Steaming:

Steaming is the simplest and easiest cooking method you can use. Steaming allows the steam to cook the foods. Nutrients are best keep with steaming your foods. Vegetables are most often steamed and foods should never touch the water in the steaming process. Foods can be cooked in water instead of butter, oil, or lard to achieve that healthy cooking lifestyle.

Stir-frying:

Traditional Asian cooking method. Stir-frying in a wok or large nonstick frying pan with only a small amount of oil or cooking spray.

The healthy cooking methods described above are cooking options to use rather than frying your foods. Incorporating healthy cooking into your lifestyle can be as simple as eating whole wheat pasta, using fat free or low fat sauces or salad dressings, using whole wheat flour, or replacing salt with herbs and spices. Doing those simple changes will jump start your healthy cooking lifestyle. Now, listed below is some recipes that fits some of the cooking methods from above. Try these recipes and see how easy and delicious healthy cooking is.

Broccoli Cheddar Bake

Serves 6

Ingredients

4 cups chopped fresh broccoli
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups egg substitute
1 cup fat-free milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly coat a baking dish with cooking spray.

In a nonstick skillet, combine the broccoli, onion and water. Saute over medium-high heat until the vegetables are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Keep adding water to prevent the vegetables from drying out, but use as little water as possible. Drain and set aside when the broccoli is done.

In a bowl, combine the egg substitute, milk and 3/4 cup cheese. Add in the broccoli mixture and pepper. Stir to mix well.

Transfer the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Set the baking dish into a large pan filled with about 1 inch of water. Bake uncovered until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with the remaining 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.

Pasta with spinach, garbanzos and raisins

Serves 6

Ingredients

8 ounces farfalle (bow tie) pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 can (19 ounces) garbanzos, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup unsalted chicken broth
1/2 cup golden raisins
4 cups fresh spinach, chopped
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Cracked black peppercorns, to taste

Directions

Fill a large pot 3/4 full with water and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until tender, 10 to 12 minutes, or according to the package directions. Drain the pasta thoroughly.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and garlic over medium heat. Add the garbanzos and chicken broth. Stir until warmed through. Add the raisins and spinach. Heat just until spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes. Don't overcook.
Divide the pasta among the plates. Top each serving with 1/6 of the sauce, 1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese and peppercorns to taste. Serve immediately.

Peas with fresh mint

Serves 6

Ingredients

3 pounds English peas, shelled (about 3 cups) or 1 pound frozen shelled peas, thawed

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

In a large pot fitted with a steamer basket, bring about 1 inch water to a boil. Add the peas, cover and steam, tossing once, until tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer the peas to a large bowl and add the olive oil, mint, salt and pepper. Toss to mix and coat. Serve immediately.

Alternatively, saute the peas. In a saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the peas and cook, stirring occasionally, just until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in the mint. Season with the salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

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