Eating healthy food does not mean giving up all your favorite foods. In fact, you can easily adapt your favorite recipes to create a healthy alternative.
For instance, non-stick cookware is now being used to minimize the need for more cooking oil. Freshly pressed fruits and vegetables can also be steamed or microwaved instead of boiled.
You do not have to make everything from scratch. Instead, you can use frozen or canned goods and make your meals more healthy.
Even if you are not interested in making your own meals, you can still incorporate healthy cooking techniques into other meals. This will not only make them taste better, but it is also good for your health.
We at FoodMasta have gathered various healthy cooking methods for you to learn and implement after this. So soon, you'll get a new twist on your favorite dishes, and you'll be satisfied with what you will learn starting from now on.
Why Should You Do Healthy Cooking Methods?
1. If you want to avoid consuming too many calories, then this is why you should start eating healthy with these cooking methods. Eating healthy foods will keep you from becoming obese, which is associated with many health problems such as:
- diabetes (especially Type 2 diabetes)
- heart disease (especially Coronary heart disease)
- stroke
- high blood pressure
- gallbladder disease
2. There are many different healthy cooking methods that you can use to cook your food. They are very easy and flexible to what ingredients you're cooking. You have the option of either using frozen or fresh ingredients for cooking in this way.
3. These methods will make your food healthier, and it will also taste better because you will know to cook it at the right temperatures.
4. It is important to change up your cooking methods so that you don't get bored with your previous cooking style and end up eating the same foods repeatedly.
5. You don't have to be a professional chef to learn these cooking methods. All you need is the right information and some patience to make these methods work for you.
6. You will find that once you change your eating habits, you will experience a better lifestyle than before. Besides, it will also make you look much younger than you really are.
7. Changing your eating habits is very important. Healthy foods will give you more energy and keep you away from getting sick. All of this is because healthy foods are good for you, and they are good for your body.
Now, let's see what these healthy cooking methods are and how you can do it yourself.
The 11 Healthy Cooking Methods
Slow Cooking
What is 'slow cooking'?
Slow cooking is an ancient method of cooking that involves using minimal heat in the final stages of the cooking process.
A slow cooker, sometimes called a crockpot, is an electrical cooking appliance specifically designed to cook at a low temperature than other cooking styles, including boiling, baking, and frying.
In the United States, slow cookers are considered healthier than conventional ovens and stovetops. These are because they produce more nutrient-dense foods and waste less energy than conventional cooking.
Here are some of the top slow cooker recipes and tips for maximizing the full benefits of this versatile kitchen appliance.
Some of the most popular slow-cooking options involve some variation of the stew, soup, or stew-like offerings that are so common on the menu. If you're looking for a new twist on these favorites, consider using a programmable cooker.
Some of the newer models have built-in programmable options that allow users to choose a meal size. And then set the slow cooker's parameters to maintain the proper serving size.
As a result, the food can be kept warm and well-cooked throughout the meal. Even if you don't have a programmable cooker, consider making your favorite soups and stews in a slow cooker before they are added to the rest of your meals.
Other helpful tips for maximizing the nutrients in your food include regularly cleaning the pot and heating drawer with a suitable heat source (such as your home's own electric burners).
This is especially important if you have a deep pot, which can take up to twelve hours to heat, depending on its depth.
Also, remember to turn the cooking dial to the desired setting before reaching its peak and carefully monitor the pressure gauge. Then, when it is time to release the pressure, the cooker should not be holding any more air than it did when it was first turned on.
Pressure Cooking
This is the act of cooking food in a sealed container called a pressure cooker, using sealed water or alcohol-based cooking medium, at very high pressure.
High-pressure ranges from about 180 pounds per square inch, allowing for extremely high cooking temperatures, and usually allows for food to be cooked on the stove for a few hours to an hour, depending on the foods being cooked.
However, some pressure cookers (most often used in commercial settings) also have a feature allowing the food to be cooked on the central "burner" setting, for up to a maximum of about three hours.
Some foods can be cooked more quickly in a high-pressure cooker than others, which are called low-fat foods. Therefore, the amount of time needed to cook a given recipe will be different depending on the pressure level of your cooker.
Typically, a pressure cooker will tell you how long it will take from the time the lid is closed to the time the pot starts to "burn" or boil, as well as the total cooking time.
Thus, a digital Pressure Cooker will always indicate to you how long it will take to complete the cooking process. The total cooking time is usually an average of the time for all the cups of water used in the recipe and the cooking time of the contained food.
Many recipes call for boiling water at a specific temperature, such as just below the simmering point. To determine the pressure level in your pressure cooker, look at the indicator light to see how much steam is rising inside.
If the indicator light indicates full steam, your pressure cooker is doing exactly as instructed.
Suppose the light indicates that less steam is rising. In that case, your pressure cooker is not holding the boiling temperature anywhere close to the full boiling point of water.
In this case, your next step is to either lower the pressure to a more appropriate setting or find another recipe that calls specifically for lower pressure.
You may not know it but slow cooking and pressure cooking are two popular healthy cooking methods. Both methods produce healthy meals that are low in fat and high in nutrition. These methods can either be used for stewing, baking, broiling or frying. You may prefer one or the other but either method is very beneficial for you.
Braising
We have all heard about the health benefits of eating natural meat with no chemicals added to it. That's why braising is one of the healthy cooking methods because it uses lean meat and vegetables.
One of those health benefits of braising is that you are reducing your food consumption of unnatural foods. This means reducing the amount of salt and other preservatives that go into preparing meat.
Braising is very simple, and all you have to do is plan the ingredients you will need. In the old days, people used to use organs and brains for braising, but today you can use just about any type of meat.
When braising, the important thing is that you keep the meat warm while it is cooking and do not add any unnecessary fat or grease to it.
If you are braising beef, you need to be sure that you let the meat cook thoroughly without allowing it to get dry. Also, make sure that you keep the juices that come from the beef because they add great flavor and color to the whole meal.
Braising is so easy to do, and it can be a wonderful way to make delicious meals for your family. The fact that there is a lot of controversy over it only shows how healthy and good braising can be.
In fact, it is probably one of the best ways that you can eat meat because you are creating it yourself and controlling everything from the way it cooks. There is really no other healthy cooking method that has as much versatility as braising.
Baking
Baking is one of the healthy cooking techniques that is always advocated and supported by women. When you bake, you will be able to add a lot of freshness and flavor to your favorite recipes.
When you have mastered the art of baking, then you can take this art to another level. This can also be a great way to get your kids involved in baking and helping you create mouth-watering dishes.
In addition, you will be able to show them how to use different ingredients that go well with different baked goods.
Healthy cooking is not only limited to baking in the oven. You can also try making cookies and pasta as well. If you are new at baking, there is nothing better than using whole wheat flour for your dough.
Whole wheat flour has the right texture for making the dough strong enough to rise. This is the first important step for any healthy-eating recipe.
The secret behind healthy-eating recipes is to include ingredients from all the food groups. One good example is to replace white flour in your recipes with whole wheat flour. By doing so, you can lower the number of calories and fat that you are taking in.
Stir-frying
Healthy cooking techniques stir fry some food in a pan in a manner to make it sizzling hot. The best way to cook any dish in this manner is to follow some guidelines to prepare a good stir-frying. First of all, it is very important to learn how to choose the right kind of food for stir-frying.
In case you have not yet had the experience of stir-frying, you should give stir-frying a try for you to understand what the fuss is all about and how to do it at home.
Stir-frying is the way of serving almost all kinds of food in a pan or any other heated vessel to cook to their maximum health without burning or scorching.
The first thing that you have to do before starting off with healthy cooking techniques is to make sure that the ingredients that you are going to use for the food are fresh and not expired. Some people suggest that you buy frozen food for stir-frying.
But this is not a good idea because you should be using fresh food as much as possible to prepare the food properly.
Once you have purchased the food, you should store it properly in a refrigerator so that there is no dust or any other hindrance to its freshness. You should also see to it that the food is not left overheated because this can destroy the nutritious value of the food.
Grilling
There is a lot that can say about grilling as one of the healthiest cooking methods out there. Grilling is something that many people seem to enjoy doing when they get the chance.
There are many grilling techniques that you can learn in order to make it even easier for you to create a delicious and healthy meal.
When you are grilling something, you are almost cooking it in a different way than you would with frying or broiling. This is why there are so many people out there who love to do the grilling.
If you want to take your grilling skills to the next level, you can use many different grilling techniques.
You can start off grilling just about any type of meat, whether it is pork, beef, chicken, or fish — you will be able to get an amazing meal and healthy eating from it.
Also, if you are trying to lose weight, grilling is definitely a great way to help you do it without putting on too much fat.
Grilling can be a great way to provide healthy foods for your family, and it is also something that you can do in a snap. You don't need to spend hours cooking and roasting to get a healthy meal and get an amazing taste from your cook's foods.
Grilling is something that you and your entire family will enjoy. Plus, maybe they will want you to do it on a regular basis.
With that being said — just because grilling is a popular method now doesn't mean that you have to stay away from other healthy cooking methods. You can still use both grilling techniques to provide healthy meals for your family.
These ideas will ensure that they are getting a nutritious and delicious meal from the food you prepare them with.
Steaming
Steaming cooking methods are becoming more popular in both the home and the restaurant. Health-conscious people are very picky about what they eat. They want to be sure that it is good for them and as healthy as possible.
It's no longer considered a luxury to cook at home but rather a necessity. The food industry is listening, and the chefs are using steaming to bring out even the driest ingredients into delicious dishes.
Steam can bring out the natural goodness in many of the ingredients. This makes cooking healthier for a variety of reasons. For one thing, cooking only uses natural flavors and spices.
These flavors and spices are brought to the surface by cooking with steam and releasing their nutrients into the food.
Steamers are so versatile because you can place them on the stove or oven as well as on the floor. If you have a small kitchen, this makes steaming very convenient, as well as economical. However, suppose you have a bigger kitchen or are just a beginner.
In that case, you may want to start with a tabletop steamer so that you can practice at home before moving on to the larger models.
There are many uses for steamers. For example, you can boil vegetables or fish and use steam for cooking the food. You can also steam your whole meal and then let it cool, defrost it and serve it as healthy soup.
Burning is also very good when you are making stock and need to add meat. It helps get the vitamins and nutrients in the store and helps save you money.
As you can see, there are several benefits of steaming, and one of them is its cost-effectiveness. While you may have to spend more on professional ovens, they are unnecessary if you have the correct steaming apparatus at home.
Searing
It can be done in many different ways, depending on how you want to do it. For example, some people like to make a big batch of a large lasagna dish size and reheat it over medium heat.
If you want to do it, the first thing you need to do is make sure your pan is very hot but not burning hot. You will want to either put it over medium heat or bring it to a boil over high heat, depending on what you are searing.
Once this step is done — turn the meat into a separate plate and cover it tightly. You can let it rest for up to 4 hours, or overnight if you want to get really good results.
Depending on the type of meat you are searing, it can take anywhere from 20-45 minutes to cook through.
When you have finished searing, remove the fish from the pan. Using a piece of aluminum foil, wring off any excess fat. If any veggies are wrapped in aluminum foil, now is the time to remove them.
Place the cooked piece of meat on top of your vegetables and cover with foil. Please leave it in the pan, uncovered until it is seared through, at which point you can serve it.
Broiling
Whether you are looking to prepare meat, fish, or poultry — broiling is one of the healthy cooking methods that you can try. This cooking method does not have to involve a lot of time and is an easy way to give your food a unique flavor.
When broiling, you will need a frying pan, a piece of thin metal wire, oil, and food items such as steak or chicken.
When looking for broiling utensils, you may want to consider buying a non-stick pan which is very handy when broiling. Other tools you may want to invest in include tongs and a pair of tongs with long handles. These can help make the process easier.
When broiling, you should try to brown the meat before putting it in the pan to ensure that the color is retained. If you use a traditional broiler, you should pay close attention to the bottom of the broiling food item.
This is because it tends to burn more easily than the top of the food item. As the broiler's food cooks, you should keep turning the heat switch to medium levels and take frequent, quick breaths to avoid burning.
You may also want to use a food thermometer to ensure that the food items are thoroughly cooked.
Although broiling isn't the most popular method of healthy cooking, there are many reasons why this method is popular. The fact that broiling meat in a pan helps to create tender cuts is one of the main reasons people like this method.
Another reason they love broiling is the fact that broiling is an easy way to cook healthy meals in the comfort of your own home.
Another great thing about broiling is that it is one of the fastest methods to cook food, so if you are in a hurry cooking a meal isn't going to take all that long.
Sautéing
There are several ways in which one can enjoy the wonderful taste of sautéing. The word saute is from French and refers to any type of deep-frying or cooking in which food is placed in an iron pan.
In the earlier days, this term was used for all types of cooking. Still, it came into its own with the early French chefs who revolutionized the way their countrymen cooked. These French chefs began the practice of cooking meats and other foods in their own special pans called Pommes Frites (or French fries), which quickly became a symbol of Parisian gastronomy. These special pans were decorated with iron and were truly the most glamorous of kitchen utensils.
This is why the tradition of sautéing is still as much sought after today as it was in years past. But, while this is indeed a very popular cooking method, it is not exactly an easy way of doing so.
The key is in the pan, or the saute, and the techniques you use to cook your food. For example — if you wish to make a Steak au Poivre that is absolutely delicious, you will have to be using a very thin veneer of meat on top of the raw meat - this is a delicate process that requires a lot of skill and attention to detail.
While there are no official rules as to how long a piece of meat should be cooked in a saute, it is generally accepted that it should not be left for more than two minutes. As a result, the traditional preparation of sauteed meats in French restaurants is often much longer than the amount of time it takes to cook the same exact thing in your own kitchen.
Suppose you would like to learn to make a steak au poivre that is absolutely amazing. In that case, you should consider purchasing some cooking books and looking for a technique that you can adapt to suit your individual needs.
There are a number of wonderful books available today on the market that teach you a variety of methods, and many of them will teach you the technique that people from France have been using for hundreds of years.
Just remember that the key to mastering the art of sautéing truly is to not stick to one specific technique but instead start experimenting with different things in order to determine what works best for you.
Roasting
It is a method that is often overlooked and can be one of the most delicious methods. You will find that there are several different roasting techniques available. You may choose to roast for an hour to allow the flavors to develop, or you may choose to roast for half an hour. There is no right or wrong way to do it as long as you have the correct tools and plan ahead.
You want to start by preparing all your ingredients and putting your food in the roasting pan. This includes your vegetables, chicken or fish, and anything else you wish to add to the pan before roasting.
You want to make sure that your vegetables cook thoroughly and with minimal time so you do not overcook them. The more time you take to brown the vegetables, the less time you will spend roasting.
Once your vegetables are done roasting, turn the roasting pot on low. You will need to monitor the vegetables to see if they are done. Suppose they are not ready yet to place them in the cold oven on low. Once they are ready, you can remove them from the oven and set them aside to cool down.
