Healthy Cooking Tips – Techniques of Healthy Cooking
OPH Good Housekeeping & HomemakingIntroduction – Healthy Cooking Tips
When we think about a healthy diet, the main and sometimes sole focus is on the type of food we’re consuming. However, other factors hold great importance in the overall scheme of things too such as storage, preparation and more importantly, cooking. Even the cooking equipment plays a significant part, which you’ll learn within the confines of this article The Volatility of Vitamins
At this point you’re probably wondering what the phrase ‘volatility of vitamins’ means. Well, it basically refers to the amount of a vitamin which is lost from food during the stages of storage, preparation and cooking. The less robust a vitamin, the more volatile it is considered. For example, water soluble (dissolves in water) B and C vitamins in fruit and vegetables are considered to be particularly volatile and are lost through the aforementioned stages. Vitamin B1 and folic acid especially score low in the stability stakes, losing up to 50% of their substance during cooking and exposure to light. Vitamin E is a funny one too. it is found in nuts, pulses and vegetable oils and loses its strength when exposed to air. As this is the case it’s imperative that you take a great deal of care and ensure you buy foods containing this vitamin at their freshest point (or as close as possible) and store them in an airtight container, in a dark, cool place. When chopping fruit and vegetables, see to it that you do so just before the cooking takes place, if you fail to do this, the sliced sections will allow even more vitamins to escape, as they are exposed to the air. An example here can be seen with salad. If you chop salad leaves, say, the day before you’re due to eat them, you’ll notice they’ve lost their colour and become limp, which can also be attributed to the reaction of enzymes within the fruit or vegetable. One of the best healthy cooking tips I can give you at this point is to eat cooked fresh produce as soon as possible, because keeping food warm in the oven for example or reheating it will result in even more vitamins being lost. If you’re the type of person who likes to cook large quantities of food and store it in the freezer for a later date then ensure you cool and chill the food as soon as possible, before freezing. A good little tip here is to divide the food into smaller portions, as this will speed up the cooling process. As with many things some techniques are better than others when trying to achieve a specific goal and it is no different concerning healthy eating and cooking. Below, you’ll see a list of cooking techniques, with an explanation to why and why not they are suited to cooking a particular food. Boiling
During the boiling process the water soluble vitamins found in vegetables are readily lost. In order to preserve these vitamins there are two tips I can offer you. Firstly, add the vegetables to a large volume of ready-boiling water. The advantage here is down to the speed; the faster the cooking process the less time there is for vitamins to leach out. And secondly, quite the opposite to the first tip, use a minimum amount of water, this also reduces leaching, but may also result in the vegetable being cooked unevenly, if parts aren’t fully submerged by the water. The choice of cooking techniques is solely down to judgement, but what I do suggest is that larger, bulkier vegetables are cooked in a large volume of water and smaller ones such as button mushrooms in smaller amount of water. Additionally you can make better use of the vitamins if you use the cooking water as stock, soup or gravy. Frying
Frying food, depending on the type of fat being used, may increase your levels of saturated fat, to unhealthy levels. However, for healthy cooking purposes choose oil high in polyunsaturates, if you do so, you can still eat fried food as part of a healthy diet. Shallow Frying
If you use this cooking technique, then obviously the amount of oil that is needed is minimal, but ensure you use a non-stick frying pan. A good healthy cooking tip here is to start off with a tablespoon of oil, with a splash of liquid. Later on, if you notice the pan becoming dry add a little more oil, but as usual food will usually produce its own juices when cooking. A final piece of advice is not to use a pan that is too large in comparison to the amount of food you’re cooking, as you will use more oil than is really necessary. Stir-Frying
Stir-frying food is more conducive to a healthy diet than shallow frying as it requires very little oil and cooks the food quickly, which in turn gives you the added advantage of sealing in the juice, thus reducing vitamin loss. Below are some preparation techniques that will make stir-frying foodless demanding.
Cut any ingredients into small, uniformly sized pieces, to enable them to cook quickly and evenly.See to it that the pan or wok is very hot before adding the oil; a good indicator is the sizzling sensation when the oil comes into contact with the pan.Ensure that all the ingredients are ready and at hand for you to use after you’ve added the oil. In addition add the ingredients that need the longest time to cook in first.Wet Frying / Poaching
If you would like to significantly decrease your fat intake then this particular cooking technique is ideal. What you need to do here is add about 50ml of liquid such as water, ale, stock, or wine into a non-stick pan, bring to the boil, reduce the heat, add chopped vegetables, poultry or meat and stir fry for 2-15 minutes, depending on discretion . Dry Frying
Some meat contains hidden fat and it is this type of food that easily lends itself to this type of cooking, in addition watery vegetables such as onions, mushrooms and tomatoes (although classed as a fruit) are ideal too. However, for obvious reasons ensure you use a non-stick pan. Grilling
When cooking meat, poultry or fish, grilling is the cooking technique that makes the most of them. In addition it can also be used to good effect when cooking sturdy vegetables such as onions, bell peppers and aubergines. The advantage with this healthy cooking tip is down to the fact that the direct heat helps seal in the juices and the overall natural goodness. If you compare grilling to frying, you’ll see a superiorly healthier cooking option. It’s because this method requires very little added fat, if any, although some may have to be used to prevent drying from taking place. A nice tip here is to prevent moisture loss by marinating a couple of hours before cooking.Some foods are more suitable for grilling than others. Ideally food should be reasonably flat, and compact so that the heat can penetrate through and cook evenly. Vegetables to be grilled should be cut in half or thickly sliced. You should note that tougher cuts of meat are not really suitable for grilling as the direct heat will only serve to toughen up the fibres even more. Where fish is concerned thin tail fillets from oily fish such as salmon or trout are ideal for grilling. A good tip here is to place them on the grill skins side up and cook close to the heat for 4-7minutes, without turning. Cooking skin side up will help protect the flesh, ensuring the juices don’t flow out of it too much, therefore preventing it from drying out. On the other hand white fish fillets such as cod are a little more difficult to grill as they tend to dry out. To prevent this from happening I suggest you brush the skin with oil and grill skin side up, at least 15cm from the heat for 5-7 minutes and carefully turn when the flesh begins to dull and brush with oil once more cook for a couple of more minutes. If any juices have seeped away it can be poured over the fish or used as the basis for a sauce. Keeping with the fishy theme; if you wish to cook a whole fish such as a mackerel, trout or salmon then you’ll need to make three or so slices to the skin around the thickest part, to allow the heat to penetrate more readily and even out the cooking distribution. Microwave Cooking
Microwave cooking is especially good for vegetables and fish as well as defrosting and re-heating food. This is because it cooks the food in a very quick time and with very little effort. In terms of healthy eating microwave cooking fairs very well as food can be cooked with a minimum amount of oil and water, therefore water soluble vitamins are less likely to be lost. However, steaming is just as effective. Pressure Cooking
Pressure cookers work by trapping steam via a specially designed tight fitting lid over a large saucepan. As the pressure builds up, the temperatures within surpasses those of the boiling point, which in turn forces steam into the food. This reaction means that cooking times can be reduced up to half and more importantly in terms of healthy eating, because a small amount of liquid is needed, fewer nutrients will leach out, however, some will be destroyed by the immense heat. Pressure cookers are pretty versatile and can be used for a variety of foods. They are particularly useful for vegetarians, as high maintenance pulses can be cooked in no time, without having to soak them, thus providing much needed fibre in no time at all. Additionally meat lovers benefit too, as tough cuts of meat are superbly tenderised, without having to spend valuable time having to babysit them, which would be the case with most other cooking techniques. Roasting
Roasting is a healthy way of coking along as the food doesn’t sit in fat. Additionally it can be used to cook whole poultry, large joints of meat and vegetables. A healthy cooking tip where meat or poultry is concerned is to place the bird or joint on a rack above a baking tray, so the fat drips away. You can then use the drippings to make the gravy. Succulent fish can be produced by roasting too. Place the fish in a foil parcel with a splash of wine, stock or citrus juice. You can also add herbs, spices and vegetables to give it that extra flavour. As I mentioned earlier, vegetables can benefit from roasting too, especially robust ones such as peppers, aubergines, courgettes, garlic, potatoes and red onions. If you ‘re cooking elongated vegetables then slice them length ways before roasting and round ones through their circumferences. Once you have chopped them place them on a large baking tray, with plenty of space between them. It is recommended that you use a non-stick tin, as this will allow you to get away without using oil. If you want to achieve that char-grilled look, then a good tip is to pre-heat the oven to its maximum temperature, before cooking. Steaming
As I mentioned in t he microwave cooking snippet above, steaming is a superb way to cook vegetables. This is because vegetables subjected to this type of cooking keep their flavour, texture and colour and more importantly they hold on to their nutrients much better too. They are able to do this because they don’t come into contact with any liquid; however some are still lost to the heat. Steaming can be used to cook other foods too, especially tender ones such as fish fillets and chicken breast. In addition pasta can be reheated in this way without the fear of it drying out. Stewing and Braising
This technique lends itself ideally to healthy eating because this slow, gentle method of cooking tougher cuts of meat and poultry, vegetables and even fruit means that fewer vitamins are lost, with fat being kept to a minimum. When opting for this approach you should leave plenty of time for cooking and cooling, this will allow any fat to float to the surface, which can then be blotted off. That’s it for this healthy cooking tips article I hope you found it useful. While you’re here why not check our articles on:
High Fiber Foods
High Energy Foods
Fat Burning Foods
Healthy Diet Plan
Food Nutrition
Maintaining a Balanced Diet
Or why not keep up to date with our activities on Twitter - One Pair of Hands or Facebook - OPH Good Housekeeping.
From healthy cooking tips, to cooking artilces
Health and fitness tips
OPH Good Housekeeping & Homemaking home
| Please subscribe to our FREE monthly One Pair of Hands ezine/newsletter by filling out the form below (more info...) signing up to our newsletter will give you additional good housekeeping and homemaking tips, as well as provide you with our website updates. |
|
