10 Healthy Cooking Tips You Won't Have Heard before ...

Neecey

You’ll find healthy cooking tips all over the Internet but it seems to be the same old, same old ones regurgitated time and time again. If you like to eat healthily it always good to come across new ways to brighten up your menus or make use of ingredients you hadn’t considered before. Here are 10 healthy cooking tips that hopefully you won’t have heard before and if you have, they’ll be a good memory jogger.

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1. Yummy Yoghurt

One of the first things we cut down on when we want to eat better is cakes, biscuits and baked goods in general. But, you can still enjoy these in moderation if you follow one of the top healthy cooking tips which is to make your own muffins but replace half the suggested liquid with yogurt – they are generally lighter and fluffier too. You can also make yogurt bread - simply mix the flour with a carton of yogurt.

2. Can the Cream

The secret to a true creamy risotto is well, cream. If cream isn’t used, extra butter or handfuls of calorie-laden parmesan are thrown in to finish it off. You can cut out all of these if you make a risotto that is properly cooked and well flavored. Don’t be tempted to replace risotto rice with brown rice, even though whole grains are better health-wise. The perfect way to cook risotto is to use a good quality pot, preferably one that is made of heavy cast iron as this retains heat evenly. Before you add your rice first melt your butter or oil. When all the rice grains are covered with the oil then it is time to add the liquid and cook slowly. It is ready to serve when no more liquid is visible and the rice is plump but still has a ‘bite’.

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3. Juicy Carrots

We know how important our 5-a-day is and how good salads are. It is so easy to reduce the benefits of a crisp fresh salad with a poor dressing choice. One of the great healthy food tips is to replace a quarter of the oil you would normally use in a basic dressing with carrot juice. Carrot juice is full of vitamins and is low in fat. It not only tastes good but you are also getting more of those essential nutrients.

4. Mustard Mix

You know when you need something filling and comforting but without upping the calorie count? Healthy cooking tips that can make stodge tasty but still guilt free are always going to be a bonus. As mustard has no cholesterol or fat it is ideal for using instead of egg (which is high in cholesterol) for making a breadcrumb mixture. It is flavorsome and the perfect alternative for delicious crumbed fish and chicken or lamb cutlets.

5. Veggie Vitamins

Knowing how to prepare food healthily is understanding what, when and how much you can out or reduce. The best way for browning seasonal vegetables is first to heat your pan, then add your vegetables and spray on extra virgin olive oil. This way, less oil is absorbed and the vegetables maintain a lovely flavor. Use lots of garlic in your vegetable mix as this is very good for your health.

6. Peas Please

Guacamole may be packed with nutrition but avocados are high in fat and calories. This is made worse when we add lashings of sour cream, as some recipes indicate. You can make an alternative guacamole using peas and whole egg mayonnaise together with the standard seasonings. For a second, healthier alternative , try baba ganoush, a delicious dip from the Middle East made roast eggplants.

7. Bananalicious

If you are among the population that is lactose intolerance, you do not want to use butter when baking muffins and cakes. Instead, mash up bananas and vegetable oil as the fat replacement. This mixture can be used in many of your favorite recipes as a healthy alternative to butter.

8. Salt Substitute

Adding a little vinegar, lemon juice or olive oil near the end of cooking time for vegetables, or even to cooked vegetables, serves as a flavor enhancer in the same way that salt does and minimizes your salt intake for the day.

9. Poaching Perfection

Poaching is such a healthy way to cook, as there is no fat. When you poach either fish or chicken, add celery, carrots and peppercorns to the water. This will provide you with delicious stock base for making soups. A good tip for you is to freeze the stock in ice trays, then defrost as many as you need when needed.

10. No Peel Appeal

You may not be aware that most of the vegetable nutrients are in their skins.
Therefore, do not “undress them”, simply wash and scrub them in water and cook and eat them with their skins on for healthy nourishment.

If you have some more healthy cooking tips that you want to share- especially those you think our readers may not have heard before – please do share.