Ten Easy Steps to Healthy Cooking
Yes, you can make nutritious meals that actually taste good.
-Susan Burke March
We’d all like to eat healthier, but sometimes it seems like too much trouble. The shopping, the preparation, the cooking. Who has time for that? But before you give up and breeze through your local drive-thru for a high-fat, high-calorie meal, take a look at what I’m recommending. I promise that if you give these tips a try, you’ll be cooking healthy more often than you ever thought possible—and enjoying your favorite receipes with more flavor and less fat, sugar and calories.
Get ready to succeed. You’ve heard this advice a lot about lunch, but it works for dinner, too. Plan your meals in advance! Then go shopping to buy just want you want. You’ll have the healthy options you need when you actually start to cook. (By the way, eat a healthy snack before heading to the supermarket. Otherwise, every high-calorie food in the store will start looking good to you.)
Double up. If you want to save yourself even more time (and money) make twice the food you need and freeze half in a convenient, microwave-safe container for the next day. Most offices and cafeterias have microwave ovens for you to reheat your lunch. Enjoy your own convenient frozen entrée!
Read Top Tips From Top Dietitians
Keep it simple. Avoid recipes with too many steps and ingredients. Your best bet: A plain grilled, broiled or baked dish without too many components, a starch (a baked potato, say) and a fresh vegetable.
Think lean. Buy the leanest cuts of meat and, on top of that, trim all visible fat before cooking. Ground meat should be at least 95% lean. Try ground turkey burgers for a change, or replace at least one-third of your ground beef with ground turkey breast.
Stick to nonstick. Stock up on nonstick pans for baking, grilling, and sautéing, and even for soup. Nonstick pans allow you to avoid using oil in favor of healthier options like cooking spray, wine, water, or fruit juice.
