Cooking Fit
4 Life
Smart Strategies That Stir You!
Chef Alli's Fresh Approach to Promoting Wellness –
It All Starts in the Kitchen!
Do you want to cook up a healthy lifestyle? Here are my top 10 secrets to better cooking and eating.
1. Maintain a well-stocked pantry and keep the ingredients on hand at
all times for 3 healthy, family-favorite recipes. Nothing is more frustrating than learning you
don’t have what you need to prepare your recipe. And if you have to sprint to the grocery
store to get those needed ingredients, you’ll soon be telling yourself you
might as well run through the drive-through instead. Keeping the ingredients on hand for 3 solid
recipes that your family enjoys, ensures that you don’t have to use your energy
to figure out WHAT to cook and that’s typically the hardest part! As you cook and use up your ingredients, be
sure to jot down them down on your grocery list so you’re always restocked.
2. Don’t fizzle, SIZZLE! Use the power of BROWN. I’m not sure
what famous tv chef first came up with this, but it’s so true: When we cook, brown is not a COLOR, it’s a
FLAVOR. Caramelization and fond (all
those delicious little guys stuck to the bottom of your pan!) boost flavor
tremendously, so put them to work whenever you can. Always
preheat your pan before adding any ingredients – they should SIZZLE when they
hit the pan’s surface – this creates the caramelization we want. Deglazing your pan to bring the fond up off
the bottom is what adds even more flavor to what you are creating – don’t waste
it!
3. Try Cooking
with Less Oil. Heart healthy oils, such as olive, grape seed,
and canola are great in most recipes, but they still add about 120 calories per
tablespoon (roughly the size of your thumb is a tablespoon), so we got to use
them sparingly. Nonstick spray can help
when trying to brown something and this typically allows you to use much less
oil. Also, adding a little wine or broth
to your pan for deglazing can help you use less oil when cooking vegetables to the tender stage.
4.
Go Green – Grow an Herb Garden to Use Less Salt. Cooking with herbs lets you create dishes
that are bright, aromatic and vibrant in flavor, with no added fat, calories,
or salt. Keep a well-organized selection
of dried spices on hand, too. And, yes,
spices lose their potency after they sit in the cupboard so learn to “bloom”
them in your skillet over medium heat.
Once you smell their aroma, their essence has been released and this
intensifies the flavor.
5.
Make Creamy
Dishes Without the Cream. Ditch heavy cream and make smooth, creamy
sauces with low-fat milk or fat free half and half that are thickened with
flour. Combine 1 cup low-fat milk with 4
tsp. flour, then whisk over medium heat until thickened and bubbly, to create a
velvety sauce. For
creamy salad dressing, opt for using low-fat mayo or substitute half of the
mayo for low-fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.
6. Get Crispy Foods Without Using a lot of Fat. Try
oven-frying instead of deep frying in oil.
Dip chicken, fish, or veggies in milk or buttermilk, then dredge in
seasoned flour or panko crumbs, then coat with non-stick spray. Place onto a wire rack set over a baking
sheet and bake, uncovered, at 425 – 450 degrees F. until browned and
crispy. Using this technique can reduce
calories by about 40%.
7. Use Whole Grains in Baked Goods.
Replacing half the all-purpose
flour in baked goods with whole-wheat flour adds fiber (12 more grams per cup)
and boosts essential B vitamins, zinc and magnesium. Or, substitute whole wheat PASTRY flour, cup
for cup, in any recipe.
8. Add Grains and Veggies to Meaty Dishes. When
preparing ground meat dishes, such as burgers or meatloaf, add whole grains
(such as bulgar or brown rice) or more veggies (such as minced mushrooms and bell
peppers) to the meat to bulk up the portion size. A good measure for this is 1 cup cooked
grains or veggies for each pound of meat.
9. Use less cheese! Reducing the amount of cheese you use in any
dish immediately gives you a healthy boost by reducing the fat and
calories. By using cheeses that are more
bold and tangy in flavor, such as sharp cheddar, goat cheese, or feta, you have
more flavor pronunciation with fewer calories and fat. Trying using cheese as a garnish instead of
an ingredient in recipes whenever possible.
10. Cook like a pro: Use good
tools. There’s no way around it –
cooking is work. Instead of making it
painful drudgery, why not invest in the three tools that immediately ensure
efficiency? A good, sharp chef’s knife, a large wooden cutting board (this
supports your knife), and a 12” heavy-bottomed skillet or saute pan. If these tools
are high-quality, they will be lifetime purchases and make your time in the
kitchen much more efficient and enjoyable. Yes, there are lots of other great
cooking gadgets out there, but begin with these three and add to your kitchen
collection as you go.
Now You're Cookin',
Chef Alli