Does cooking dinner mean removing the cellophane top from a frozen meal or maybe opening a fresh box of cereal?
If so, it's time to change!You don't have to be an expert to cook healthy, low-fat, meals that taste great.
Here's some tips for you:
Steaming - when you steam food it locks in flavour and stops you using fat for cooking in. It also helps food retain nutrients better than any other cooking method, other than microwaving. Shellfish and fish are delicious cooked in a steamer as they don't dry out as they can with other cooking methods. Great foods to cook in a steamer are asparagus, corguettes, green beans, fish fillets, chicken breast, shellfish and even pears.
Stir-Fry - To stir-fry you cook at a very high temperature for a very short time. Food should be cut up small to ensure it cooks through. The trick with stir-fry is to constantly keep food moving so it doesn't burn and stick to the pan. A wok is the best type of pan to use but you can use other types. Foods ideal for stir-fry are Broccoli, aubergine, peppers, mushrooms, cabbage, chicken, prawns, scallops and pork.
Microwave - using a microwave to cook your food is great as you don't need to use fat or oil. Vegetables and fish or chicken are the best foods to cook in a microwave - beef or pork aren't so good. So try broccoli, potatoes, spinach, chicken, fish, carrots, cauliflower and apples.
Pressure cooker - at one time, everyone had a pressure cooker but for some reason they aren't as popular now. That doesn't mean that they aren't still a great choice for cooking. The cooker seals in steam and the boiling water intensifies the cooking process meaning you can cook soups or stews within 15 minutes, rice in 5 minutes and vegetables in 3 minutes.The best food to cook in a pressure cooker are potatoes, beans, beef, risotto, soup, stew, lamb, chicken and artichokes.
Have we made you hungry? Best go and get that steamer out then!
