Quick Tips for Healthy Eating
We want to eat healthier but it sounds time-consuming and intimidating. But cooking healthy doesn't need to be. With some new appliances and food prep short cuts, you can have fresh food on your plate in under 30 minutes.
Chop away
When you get home from the grocery store, put some items away but keep out the produce. Clear off counter space, get out your cutting board and knives and have Tupperware handy. Glass containers like Pyrex are best but plasticware will do.
Even if you have not planned a menu, chop vegetables in advance for easy use. Mini choppers or mini food processors are an easy way to cut up veggies and fresh herbs. They range in price from $25 to $50. Put the chopped vegetables into containers and store them in the fridge until you are ready to cook.
Another useful tool is a mandoline, a slicing tool with an adjustable blade. You can cut carrots or squash at an angle (a style called julienne) or slice onions and potatoes easily with a mandoline. These range in price from $30 for plastic to $150 for steel. They often come with 1-4 blades, offering you different styles of cutting.
Be sure to sharpen your knives professionally at least once a year. Ask your local kitchenware store or hardware store for recommendations on knife sharpeners. These pros can also sharpen the blades in your food processor and blender.
Plan ahead
Rice cookers enable you to get a jump-start on food prep. And they cook more than just rice. You can cook grains like millet, quinoa and kasha in a rice cooker. These grains are higher in protein than rice and have a very different texture. Experiment. Most rice cookers come with instructions for different grains because you'll need different amounts of water to cook different grains.
You can also cook dried beans in a rice cooker. The rice cooker instructions will indicate cooking times and water levels for different types of beans.
When purchasing a rice cooker, buy a 3 cup or 4 cup model with a "warm" and "auto off" option. Although models with aluminum inserts are cheaper, they don't last as long and may leach aluminum into your food. Look for titanium and metal inserts; they last longer. Prices for rice cookers range from $20 to $200.
Crock-pots or slow cookers are another timesaving appliance. Again, the smaller, the better. Look for 4- and 6-cup models to save counter space and time. Larger cookers can take longer to heat. Modern versions have "serve", "low" and "cook" or "high" settings. Soups and stews are a natural choice for slow cookers but terrines and stratas can also be cooked in a slow cooker. Most slow cooker dishes take 2-8 hours to make, so you can leave the appliance on and eat later.
Pressure cookers cook food up to 10 times faster than other methods. Using steam and pressure, they heat and cook food evenly. Today's models are a safe, convenient way to cook dried beans, grains and meats. Pressure cooker instructions will help you figure out liquid amounts and cooking times. Look for 4-quart or 6-quart models. They range in price from $40 to $200.
Cook more
When you make more food than you plan on eating now, you're setting yourself up for leftovers. But they don't have to be boring. When you make beans, cook 3 times what you need and freeze what you don't use. Use them within 3 months. Rice and grains can also be frozen for up to 2 months. Most soups will last 1-2 months in the freezer, depending on how much fat you use. The more fat you use, the sooner you should eat it.
Consider reusing leftovers in a soup. You can puree the ingredients together or add vegetable stock to create the texture you want.
You can use that same puree as a gravy over rice or pasta. Serve with a different side of vegetables or salad.
You can put leftovers in a casserole. Top with chopped nuts or breadcrumbs and put in an oven-safe dish with a lid. Put it in the fridge until you're ready to eat. Most casseroles cook well at 325 to 375 degrees for 30-50 minutes.
Another leftovers option is to create a quiche or egg dish. Chop the leftovers into smaller pieces or puree them. In a 6-cup mixing bowl, beat 5 eggs. Add ½ cup to 1 cup milk, soymilk or other milk substitute. Add the leftovers. Pour these ingredients into an 8-inch piecrust, leaving about ¼-inch room at the top of the crust for the quiche to expand. Bake in a 350-degree over for 30-50 minutes. Cooking time will depend on the ingredients.
Keep experimenting. Not all of these suggestions will work for you but some will. Try a different tactic each week. In the process, you'll find some ways to shave off food prep time so you can get down to the real objective-eating.
