Healthy Cooking - The "Naked" Truth

Healthy cooking is not something that seems to come naturally to most of us - hence, the proliferation of diet plans, products and potions. Many of us cite time pressures, our busy lives, too many things on the go - there are so many excuses for not preparing meals from scratch. The hard, unvarnished, or "naked" truth of the matter is that it is just too darned easy to pop something pre-made into the microwave, or grab something from the deli counter of our local supermarket.

Eating out is not always the best choice, either - especially if our idea of fine dining is to take the kids to the "Golden Arches" for burgers and fries, or chow down at the nearest pizza parlor. I love to eat out, too. I have favorite neighborhood restaurants where I can enjoy their excellent specialties, but I do realize I cannot live by rich, creamy butter chicken and warm, fresh naan bread alone, much as I love Indian cuisine.

Going shopping can be fraught with peril as well. Our supermarket shelves are clogged with packages of prepared foods - ready-made, pre-portioned, pre-mixed, pre-seasoned, pre-sweetened, just-add-water, thaw and serve, heat and serve... well, you get the idea. It seems we'll buy almost anything, as long as it promises to save us time.

"Instant" used to be the big draw. We would buy almost anything that promised to be ready in an instant - instant pudding, instant rice, instant cereal, instant noodles. They weren't ready in an instant, but they were faster and, we were told, easier to prepare than starting from scratch. Along with the instant food, though, we ingested a heavy load of sodium (salt), sugar, and various additives and preservatives to keep the "instant" products from spoiling and to help make them tasty.

In recent years, the buzz words became "lite" and "lo-fat". Unfortunately, to be called lite, or lo-fat, the product in question only had to be lower in fat than the same amount of "a specified product " - not necessarily the original product of which it was supposed to be the "lite" version.

Now, lite products, by law, are genuinely lower in fat than their full-fat brethren. Reading the label on a container of low-fat yogurt will indeed show that it has fewer grams of fat then the full-fat version of the same brand. It may also reveal that the low-fat variety contains more sugar, and more additives to make up for the difference in flavor and texture.

How, then, do we serve healthy meals to our families? How do we find the time to shop for, prepare, and serve healthy, delicious, fresh-tasting foods?

The logical first step would seem to be menu planning. Aim for a week at a time, at first. Get input from your family, and include some of their favorite dishes - if not in this week's menu, then in next week. Involve them in the preparation and cooking, as well as the shopping. Parcel out the tasks, and share the work load of shopping, setting the table, cooking, and washing up. Logical. Not our first step, though.

The first task ahead of us in our quest for fresh is to introduce our families to a new way of eating, and ourselves to a new way of cooking.

Changing the way you eat will require commitment and planning, but the rewards will be well worth it. By following a few simple principles, you, too, can prepare delicious, healthy meals, using a wide variety of fresh ingredients.

Plan ahead:

Many of us go to the grocery store with nothing specific in mind, and we end up buying the same old familiar items every time. We buy a carton or two of milk, a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, perhaps a box or two of cereal...we like chicken, so we pick up some chicken...that roast looks nice but it's awfully expensive. Chicken fingers - you know the kids love chicken fingers. What else looks good? Lunches! Oh, here we are - cheese and cracker snack packages. Look at these, already made with sliced processed meat, processed cheese, and a sugary fruit roll thingy! Perfect! Now - what's for dinner? Frozen entrees? No - had that yesterday. Frozen lasagna? No, we still have a piece left over from last time. ...frozen pizza! Perfect!

We all know how that one goes. Trying to shop to please the kids, buy things they will eat, and pick up something tasty for supper, all at the same time... and what do we come home with? A bunch of things we like, but things that don't necessarily go together to create a well-balanced, nutritious, tasty meal. When the next meal-time rolls around, we look in the fridge and can't decide what to cook because either nothing seems to go together, or we don't feel like the same-old, same-old. Then, we end up cleaning out a bunch of science experiments - food that spoiled because we didn't eat it.

Sit down with some cookbooks - invest in a new one or two if necessary - books that feature cooking with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Pick out a couple of new dishes to try, note down the ingredients, and shop for them, specifically.

Menu planning can save you time while shopping, because you are shopping for certain things, not cruising the entire store. It can also save you money by helping to prevent impulse buying and items going bad that you don't use up quickly enough.

After you have introduced a few new dishes, get your family on-board with this and involved with the meal planning. Let them pick out a few recipes they would like to try, plan your menu for the week, and take them shopping for the ingredients. ...and stick to the shopping list.

Say "No" to pre-made, pre-mixed, and pre-packaged:

Fresh is best - repeat after me - "Fresh is best!"

Your bodies don't need all those extra things that have been added to create taste appeal in those time-saving, easy-to-prepare "convenience foods". As a matter of fact, some of those additives are downright unhealthy.

Nobody needs that much salt, sugar, or fat added to their daily intake.

Get into the habit of reading the ingredients label of everything you are considering putting in your cart. Things with no ingredients listed on their labels - most fruits and vegetables - can automatically go in our cart. Lots of them!

If you're not sure what to do with an unfamiliar food, ask, buy a recipe book. Look it up on-line. The internet is full of fabulous recipes that are quick, convenient, and full of fresh ingredients. As well, most supermarkets provide preparation tips and free recipe cards right beside the bins of fresh vegetables.

Start small - start with fresh forms of the foods you know your family already likes. If they love pepperoni pizza with mushrooms and fresh tomatoes, treat them to a side-dish of sliced tomatoes, cheese, pepperoni, and raw mushrooms. Add a few celery and carrot sticks, some crackers, and serve it with a small bowl of ranch dip.

Add more whole grains and fiber:

Substitute whole wheat or flax noodles, or rice for potatoes. Some excellent ancient grains are now available and are surprisingly easy to prepare. Serve authentic couscous with your next curry and experience a really different taste sensation.

Tabbouleh, another great grain, makes a nice change from the usual. Some finely chopped parsley, minced red onion, sweet bell pepper matchsticks, and a few chopped, fresh mushroom will create a delightful bouquet of flavors when added to the pot during the last few minutes of cooking. Toss with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil for a tasty, accompaniment to grilled chicken breast, pan-seared red snapper, or broiled pork chops.

Quinoa, pronounced keen-wah, is known as "the mother of grains". This ancient grain packs quite a flavor punch in it's tiny kernels. After rinsing several times to remove the bitter outer coating, quinoa is easy to prepare. It makes a wonderful change from the usual, and is particularly tasty with the addition of a few herbs and spices that complement your main dish.

Barley. lentils, and other legumes and grains move easily from the back shelf to main ingredient status. Lentils are a great addition to chili, adding flavor, body, and an interesting variation in texture. Instead of the old standard "pork and beans", awash in tomato or molasses sauce, try adding a can of 6-Bean mix to your chili. You can raise your fiber intake while reducing the calory count, and still turn out a flavor-filled dish. Serve it up with baked crackers or baked tortillas for a further for saving of fat, salt and sugar.

With these basic principals in mind, and a little investment of time and effort, you and your family can enjoy healthy meals. Your new style of healthy cooking with fresh ingredients will add flavor to your meals, zest to your mealtimes, and help to improve your health.

© 2010, Elle Fredine, All rights reserved