A healthy diet involves not only choosing nutritious foods but also being mindful of how they are prepared. Here are eight healthy cooking habits.
1. Use less salt and MSG. Excessive intake of salt and MSG is not good for your health. Consider using spices, flavored vinegar, or citrus juice as substitutes. Adding garlic and onion powder (not garlic salt or onion salt) to meats and souks also adds great flavor.
2. Steam instead of stir-fry. Choose cooking methods that preserve flavor, color, and nutrients. Steaming vegetables avoids the destruction of nutritional value from prolonged cooking and high heat.
3. Eat more vegetables. Try adding a variety of vegetables to salads and other dishes, such as adding vegetables to soups, using chopped red or yellow peppers to enhance flavor, or using pickled fruits instead of rich sauces to accompany meat.
4. Try low-fat alternatives. Use low-fat cheese, low-fat salad dressing, and skim milk. When baking, use two egg whites instead of one whole egg to significantly reduce fat and cholesterol content.
5. Reject excess oil. Drain oil as much as possible during cooking. Use paper towels to blot oil from fried foods. If you have leftover soup, refrigerate it and skim the oil from the surface before reheating.
6. Avoid burnt food. Minimize grilling over an open flame to reduce the chance of food burning. Microwave cooking is a healthy method because it's short cooking time reduces the loss of nutrients.
7. Make desserts at home to control fat content. When baking cakes at home, use applesauce, plum sauce, or yogurt instead of fresh cream. This works especially well for nut chocolate cookies, effectively reducing fat content.
8. Choose whole grain flour. Try using wheat flour or oatmeal when making bread and cookies, or add bran or malt to bread. Choose frozen yogurt or gelatin instead of ice cream. If you spread something on your bread, choose jam instead of butter.