Most of the people who make up my circle of acquaintances already know that I am a supporter of a healthy lifestyle. Many of them actually take my advice when I suggest rethinking their habits. "How to do it?" they ask me. I usually recommend starting with food. Gradually introduce healthy foods into your diet, and over time, your old eating habits will change.
When I talk to people about healthy eating, I hear opinions like these: “Usually delicious food is unhealthy, but healthy food is tasteless and boring” or “What is the point of choosing high-quality and fresh products if they lose most of their usefulness.” food while cooking?
How to cook food so that it is both tasty and healthy?
Follow the tips below to make your daily menu more varied, but most importantly, healthier:
1. Choose your cookware with great care.
It is especially important to choose cookware from high-quality materials. In this regard, the best option is stainless steel. The price may be higher, but such dishes practically do not deteriorate over time. You can cook vegetables, meat, rice, pasta and even pastries in them. Cast iron, glass, ceramic pots, refractory porcelain, enamel, and unglazed ceramics are also good.
Avoid: especially plastics of all kinds, as well as non-stick coatings.
2. Buy a good blender.
After all, a blender will help you prepare not only healthy smoothies, but also soups. Simply put your favorite steamed vegetables into the bowl, add chicken or vegetable broth, and press the button. In a few minutes you will have a delicious and healthy soup without unnecessary ingredients.
To remember: A good blender is a smart investment!
3. Use a kitchen scale when preparing food.
A digital kitchen scale is a great way to measure portion sizes and ingredients. During the cooking process, you can cut calories and fat using precise proportions.
Good to know: Cups and spoons are inferior to electronic scales in terms of accuracy.
4. Choose the most appropriate and harmless cooking method.
You can increase the nutritional value of products with the help of several cooking methods:
- Steam cooking: This cooking method preserves the flavor of the food and does not require the addition of fat. In addition, it retains nutrients better than most other methods.
Recommendation: Best for steaming are asparagus, zucchini and green beans, pears, chicken breasts, fish fillets and shellfish. Fish fillets are steamed for 6 to 15 minutes, depending on the type of fish; vegetables and fruits – from 10 to 25 minutes; boneless chicken breast – 20 min.
- Stir fry: The essence of this method is to cook food on a very high heat for a short time. This technology helps to preserve the nutrients of the products as much as possible, leaving them juicy and bright.
Since the food cooks quickly, it should be cut into small even pieces so that all the ingredients are well fried. For stir-frying, it is better to use a wok.
Recommendation: Broccoli, cabbage, eggplant, bell peppers, mushrooms, pork, chicken, shrimp, scallops, and tofu are best cooked using the stir-fry method. For frying, use extra virgin olive oil. Pour the oil into a special sprayer and spray the wok with it.
- Baking: This is one of the healthiest ways to cook. Since it does not require any fat or oil, the dishes are dietary, low-calorie and very tasty.
When baking, the products retain the maximum amount of vitamins and beneficial properties, and an appetizing golden brown crust forms on the surface of the dishes, no worse than when frying, with the only difference being that it does not owe its appearance to harmful fats.
However, proper baking means relentlessly maintaining the right temperature in the oven, as increased thermal activity and uneven heating of the oven leads to the burning of natural fats in products and their transformation into carcinogens, as well as a decrease in the content of vitamins B and C.
Recommendation: Salmon, chicken, bell peppers, zucchini and onions are best suited for baking.
- Cooking in a pressure cooker: Foods cooked under pressure in a pressure cooker have a richer flavor and retain more nutrients.
Vegetables and fruits retain heat-sensitive substances such as vitamin C, folic acid, and biologically active phytonutrients.
When cooking meat in a pressure cooker, the content of unsaturated fats is reduced, while harmful substances are not formed.
Also, the pressure cooker saves time. Some foods (meat, rice, legumes, etc.) take a long time to cook in the usual way. Their cooking time in a pressure cooker is significantly reduced.
Recommendation: Artichokes, potatoes, beans, beef, chicken, lamb, risotto, soups, and stews work best in a pressure cooker.
5. Choose healthy products.
In order for the diet to be as balanced as possible, not only the methods of preparation and storage conditions are important, but also the choice of products.
Always try to choose fresh, unprocessed foods whenever possible, as they do not contain the artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, sodium, and fillers found in processed foods.
Buy local fruits and vegetables because they are harvested at their ripeness and reach their full vitamin potential.
Finally, I have one more recommendation that will make your life much easier: cook healthy food in large quantities. Freeze ingredients, preparations or whole dishes. For example, soups will not lose their taste and benefits at all if they are stored in the freezer.