Sunday, February 15, 2009

Simple Changes to Cook More Healthfully

By Stacey May

You don't have to eliminate all the foods you enjoy in order to cook more healthfully. Most natural food products are intrinsically healthy. What makes them unhealthy is how people prepare and cook them.

Cooking methods aren't all created equal. In its natural form, most food is loaded with vitamins and essential nutrients. But most of the nutrients will be cooked away if you don't prepare it properly. So how can you cook delicious food while retaining all of the essential vitamins and nutrients?

It's not hard to get started with heart healthy cooking. You don't even need to waste time finding a recipe. There are lots of way to prepare your favorite foods in a healthier way. These methods will allow you to keep all of the natural nutrients and flavors of the food without adding salt or unnecessary fats.

Try these tips for healthy, nutritious cooking for food that everyone will love.

Stir fry cooking is a tasty and easy way to include healthy food in your menu. With stir fry, small pieces of food are cooked in a large wok or a non-stick frying pan. This can include all sorts of vegetables, thin slices of lean meat and seasonings as desired.

You only need a small amount of oil to make a stir fry. Since the food is constantly being tossed around, it doesn't have a chance to stick to the pan. When you're done, you serve it over pasta or rice for a balanced, nutritious meal.

Another great way to cook more healthfully is to use a roasting pan with a rack when cooking meat. As the fat and juices drip away from the meat, the rack keeps them at the bottom of the pan. Therefore, the meat isn't sitting in and soaking up its fats as it cooks. To keep your meat moist and full of flavor, baste it with wine or lemon juice instead of using the drippings.

You could also try changing the way you cook vegetables. Many people tend to overcook them, thereby destroying most of the nutrients. And often they make the situation worse by slathering on excessive amounts of butter and salt. If you learn to cook vegetables properly, you'll find there's no need to cover up the taste with salt and fat.

Healthy cooking means eating food that you enjoy without feeling like you're suffering. It doesn't require any special equipment or a whole new set of cookbooks. You just need to make a few easy changes to your usual cooking methods.

About the Author:

No comments: