Ten Tips For Cooking Healthier Meals

Cooking well-balanced meals on a regular basis can be a challenge, especially when it’s easy to fall into a rut of the same old recipes or give in to tempting flavors that don’t do your waistline any favors. But there are simple steps you can take to make sure you’re making the healthiest meals possible.

The basic ingredients that we all cook with are essentially healthy. A piece of chicken and some vegetables sounds like the perfect meal for a health-conscious person, but the cooking process often increases the fat content through the use of flavor-enhancing oils and butters. To retain the healthy benefits, it’s best to use lean cooking methods that don't rely on added fat for flavor or moisture.


Try these tips to make all of your meals healthier.

1. Begin with produce
Before you even start to cook, follow the golden rule of healthy eating and always kick off the meal with fresh fruit and vegetables. Canned, packaged, and processed foods don't offer the same nutritional value as fresh foods, and often contain extra sugar and salt to help preserve them. Keep it fresh and enjoy the natural, flavorful goodness.

2. Say "no" to deep-frying
Submerging food in boiling grease is definitely not a healthy method of cooking. Your best options are to grill or bake, as little or no added oil or butter is required. Grilling on a barbecue also gives your food a delicious, char-grilled flavor that you just can’t get another way.

3. Rack and roast
When you roast meat, place it on a rack so the fat and juices drip down on to the tray and away from your plate. Also, cook your vegetables on a separate tray so they are away from the fat and juices of the meat.

4. Baste with stock, not fats
When you roast a lamb or chicken, use meat or vegetable stock to retain moisture instead of butter, oil or drippings. Stock adds plenty of flavor and helps to keep your meats moist.

5. Switch to "non-stick" pans
If you just can’t part with fried fare, cut back on butter and oil by using a non-stick pan. You can fry eggs, make pancakes and cook virtually anything without having to add extra fat to get tasty results.

6. Give veggies the steam treatment
Steaming vegetables over boiling water is one of the best preparation methods, as very few nutrients are lost in the cooking process and no added fat is needed.

7. "Wok and roll"
When you don't feel like steamed or boiled veggies, use a wok and stir-fry them instead. This method keeps vegetables crisp and brings out their flavor. Use a small amount of canola or vegetable oil and toss chopped veggies around in a wok for a couple of minutes until done.

8. Cook "naked" meats
Removing the skin from meats and poultry can reduce the fat and calories by up to 50 percent.

9. Use cooking spray
Light cooking sprays let you use half the amount of oil you would normally use from a bottle. A spray of olive oil can also be used in place of butter to grease a pan.

10. Make the most of herbs and spices
Many sauces are high in sugar or fat and really aren't necessary if the food is full of flavor. There are hundreds of herbs and spices you can add to your meals instead of relying on a sauce.

Eating healthfully doesn’t have to be hard – nor tasteless. With the above tips you can prepare foods that are healthy and delicious.