Part 1 – What makes a recipe healthy?
We all know we should be using healthy eating recipes, but what makes a recipe healthy?
Essentially, the ingredients and the way the food is cooked, will determine if it is indeed a healthy recipe. It really is that simple.
Whilst you may add some flavouring such as good stock, pesto or something similar, the basis of each healthy recipe is made up of single fresh foods.
So firstly, always start with food in its natural state. That means picking up a food in the supermarket or farmers market that you know has grown and is not man made. If the food has a list of additives or ingredients, then it isn’t. A good guideline is choosing food that your great grandmother would recognise!
Make sure the food is as fresh as possible. It is tempting to go for the reduced label but that suggests that the food has been around for a while. For fruit and vegetables that may also mean they have lost a lot of their nutritional value. For your healthy recipe you want to maximise the goodness in every bite.
This isn’t absolutely essential however by choosing unwrapped food ingredients you will be able to gauge how fresh the food actually is. Whilst it may not have a sell by date it will need to look, feel and smell fresh, to be fresh. Also by buying this way, you reduce your exposure to the plastic wrapping, which for some can be a health risk.
Whilst the oils in fish are understood to be beneficial, meat can be the biggest source of saturated fats in a dish. Cut as much fat off as possible however preferably choose lean cuts. Fat does flavour the food, however for healthy recipes you need to keep the saturated fat content down. So be careful about the cut of meat you choose, how much fat there is and how you cook it.
By using wholegrain foods you add a rich source of vitamins, minerals and fibre to any healthy recipe. This is one of simplest ways to amp up the nutrition of a meal. When shopping, choose brown varieties of rice, pasta and other grain products, to put in your basket.
Cold pressed oils such as olive, rapeseed, sesame or flax/linseed which can be added to your dish bring huge health benefits when used regularly. Don’t cook with these or a lot of their value will be lost, just use cold and add to finished dishes, salads and dressings for flavour, texture and appeal. These are not the same as their cheaper blended pale coloured cousins, which have been highly processed.
There are lots of health focussed cookbooks for new ideas. However, when starting out you can turn your old family favourites into healthier options by adapting your ingredient choices. This way you will become the expert at serving great food by using your own really healthy recipes.
