Healthy Cooking Methods: Healthy Culinary Techniques

Healthy Cooking Methods: Healthy Culinary Techniques

When we are eating healthy it´s not only important to choose fresh foods of good quality for our meals; it is also important that we learn how to cook them in an appropriate way to preserve their nutritional value. The quality of food in our meals is greatly affected by the way we cook them.

Cooking not only affect the amount of nutrients in our foods, they also make their caloric intake vary significantly. Each way of cooking modifies the quality of food as well as it tastes and nutritional value.

We cook our foods because it makes it less dangerous to eat (the heat destroys bacteria and parasites harmful for our health) and improves their digestibly. There are some foods that we can eat raw such as fruits and most of vegetables, and there are others foods that we need to cook such as meats, tubers, legumes and some grains like wheat, rice, corn and others.

Next, I will briefly explain some healthy and unhealthy cooking methods

Steamed

It is the healthiest cooking technique, this method consists of placing some boiling water in a container, the foods that we are going to steam should be above the water, usually a small base or grill serves as a support to separates them, the water must continue to heat up because is necessary that the water continues to generate steam, this steam is what really cooks the food.

It is the best method to cook vegetables and certain animal proteins such as fish, although with it you can cook all kinds of food. This method manages to keep food nutrients much better than if we boiled them in water or if we cooked them in any other way.

The benefits of this cooking way are:

• There is very little loss of vitamins and none of minerals.
• Fats or oils are not used, so the caloric intake of food is not increased.
• The color, flavor and aroma of food is preserved.
• Cooking is very fast and simple.

Scalded

Scalded consists in cooking a food in boiling water with salt for a very short period of time, between 30 seconds and 3 minutes, to subsequently cool it in cold or ice water and thus cut the cooking.

When we scalded a food, we must add salt to the cooking water to avoid a great loss of mineral salts proper to the food, since there is no difference in saline concentration the minerals are prevented from entering the cooking water.

Scalded is normally used to cook shellfish, vegetables, to easily peel foods (such as tomatoes), to clean foods, and to avoid color changes in vegetables when they are going to freeze (because scalding manages to fix chlorophyll).

The benefits of this technique are:

• It produces a relatively low loss of vitamins and minerals (if is done properly), although greater loss of nutrients that if we steam them.
• Fats or oils are not used, so the caloric intake of our meal is not increased.
• In vegetables it enhances the color of the vegetable because it fixes their chlorophyll.

Boiled

It consists of cooking food in boiling water with salt and spices for a period of time that varies depending on the food. A variation of this method is scalding. It is one of the most traditional and ideal methods for some foods such as eggs, proteins, broths, and soups.

Disadvantages of this technique:

• Causes a loss of vitamins and minerals in food, some are loss with the high temperatures and others remain in the cooking water (so it is ideal for broths and soups, because this liquid is consumed).
• It modifies the organoleptic characteristics of food (the texture, taste, color and aroma of the food may be unattractive if cooking time is exceeded).

To make sure do it properly remember:

Do not exceed cooking time, cook the food the necessary amount of time that varies depending on the food, it´s not the same to cook a meat steak than some tubers.

Grilled

This method consists of placing the food in an iron or hot pan. The contact with the surface causes the proteins of food to coagulate, creating a crunchy layer that allows the food to remain juicy inside. It also caramelizes the natural sugars of plant foods; this is what gives them that characteristic flavor. Eggs, fish, meat, poultry and vegetables can be made on the griddle.

The benefit of this technique is that you can cook with little or no fat. The disadvantage is that if food is cooked for a long period of time, they lose vitamins and can become hard and dry.

To make sure do it properly remember:

• Cook the food on high heat first, then reduce the heat and let it cook to your liking, this way you avoid that the food hardens and dries. Turn once or twice during cooking, without puncturing food to prevent them from losing their juice.
• Keep an eye on cooking time, remove the food when it´s ready.
• Do not add fats and oils to the iron, use the fat of the meat.
• If you are going to cook a fatty protein, I recommend you to remove all visible fat.
• If you are adding oil anyway, use a suitable oil for cooking at high temperatures (in a prudent amount) such as: soybean oil, sesame oil or peanut oil. However, if the iron is hot enough the food will not stick even if it has no oil.

Sauteed

It consists of cooking food in a pan or wok and stir it repetitively, the high temperature allows the outside of the food ‘to be sealed’ leaving a tender and juicy inside, this allow the ingredients to became crispy and appetizing, using the minimum of oil reason why this method is different from fried.

It can be used to cook fish, vegetables, meats and many other foods as long as they are cut evenly into small pieces. Sauteed is normally used for cooking vegetables and create versions of hot salads.

To make sure do it properly remember:

• Do not add to much oil, just a little is enough for sauteed a food.
• Use a healthy oil that withstands high temperatures without decay and losing nutritional value such as: soybean oil, sesame oil or peanut oil.
• Be careful over the cooking time, cook the food the necessary amount of time that varies depending on the food, this prevents a large loss of heat-sensitive vitamins.

Oven: roasted

It consists of cooking a food in a closed environment with dry heat and very little fat, this heat cooks the foods in uniform way. Foods are placed on a grille above a mold, where the fat slides out the foods. In the oven you can make delicious roasts of fish, poultry, meat and vegetables with a small amount of oil. 

The advantage is that foods can be cooked with very little fat and yet it creates a crispy, very appetizing layer. For results similar to frying, you can roast first and then toast. A very healthy way to cook a croquette without passing the food through oil, an excellent way to make lighter croquettes.

The disadvantage is that like other cooking ways we must control the temperature and cook the foods only the necessary time to avoid loss of vitamins. However, is one of the healthiest ways to cook proteins such as meats and fish.

Papillote

It consists of wrapping the food in aluminum foil or in leaves of some vegetable such as seaweed, banana leaves, and others, and cooking them in the oven, this creates an airtight package in which the steam that is generated inside it causes its cooking. The papillote foods are cooked in their own juice, preserving their minerals, aroma and flavor.

It can be made with any food, although fish and soft meats are usually made this way.

The benefit of this technique is that you do not need to add additional oil or fats and there is little loss of minerals. The disadvantage is that like other cooking ways we should avoid cooking them for a long time. However, is one of the healthiest ways to cook soft proteins such as fish.

Stews

This technique consists of cooking food over low or medium heat with a little water, salt and spices in a covered container to prevent the liquid from evaporating in a greater amount. It is use for cooking meats that tend to be hard.

The benefit of this technique is that if we do it correctly (without oil) you can achieve cooking with little fat. The disadvantages are that if food is cooked for a long time at high temperatures, they lose vitamins. And if we use a lot of oil in cooking the number of calories in our meal can increase considerably making our meal unhealthy.

To make sure do it properly remember:

• Do not overdo it with fat, it is better to use the own fat of meats. To cook without oil, just cover the meat with water and then let it boil gently, if you want the broth to be clear and the meat remains pale, remove the foam that forms.
• If you are adding oil anyway, use a healthy oil that withstands high temperatures without decomposing and losing nutritional value such as: soybean oil, sesame or peanut oil.
• Do not overcook the food, cook the food the right amount of time that varies depending on the food.
• Cook over medium or low heat, this prevents a large loss of heat sensitive vitamins.
• Use the cooking water as a sauce in the meal, so the vitamins that remain in the water can be eaten.

Barbecue

Consist on cooking food on a grill over a fire. It is a common method for cooking protein.

The advantage of this method is that it uses non or little oil and protein foods lose some fat that slips out of them.

The disadvantages are that if the surface of the food is burned, potentially carcinogenic chemical compounds can be formed, and as well as other cooking ways if the food is cooked for a long time at high temperatures can lose vitamins.

This method is not very healthy so tried to do barbecues not too often, and tried to eat them no to frequently.

In a pressure cooker 

In a pressure cooker food reaches quite high temperatures, which causes loss of thermosensitive vitamins and if the cooking water is not used in the meal some mineral salts and vitamins are lost in it, this method also produces a greater alteration of the color, flavor and aroma of food. 

This method is not considered very healthy because the of the loss of nutrients in foods cooked this way.

Fry 

It consists of dipping the food in abundant hot oil, creating a crunchy layer on the outside of the food. It´s the least healthy way of cooking. This method of cooking can decay fats generating carcinogenic compounds, to avoid this you should fry with oils that withstand high temperatures without decomposing (such as soybean oil or peanut oil or sesame oil) and don´t use the same cooking oil several times. 

The disadvantages are that food reaches high temperatures so there is a loss of thermosensitive vitamins and also oils increase considerably the number of calories in our food what makes our meals unhealthy.

If you are going to fry anyway, try to: 

• Don´t use the same oil several times. 
• If the oil begins to smoke, it´s beginning to decay, it can give an unpleasant taste to food, as well as being harmful to health and you should dismiss it. 
• Cook food in hot oil to prevent fats from entering inside the food. 
• Remove the oil excess from fried food by letting it drain on a metal grill and then drying it with absorbent paper.

Useful tips in the kitchen

• The heat of cooking destroys the heat-sensitive vitamins in our food, so it is convenient to consume at least one serving of raw and fresh vegetables a day, to ensure an adequate supply of these vitamins.

• It is healthier to consume fresh and raw fruits and vegetables with its skin, well washed, because much of its nutrients are found in the skin.

• To maintain the nutritional value of vegetables it is better to steam them, since if we boil them, we dilute part of their mineral salts and lose a certain number of vitamins. If you don't have a steamer or the means to create a rudimentary steamer, cook them scalded since this technique causes less loss of nutrients than traditional boiling.

• Avoid eating undercooked meat in which you can see blood, the better cooked the meats are the better, because is lower the risk of ingesting bacteria and parasites that can cause damage to our health.

• The healthiest cooking techniques for meats are grilled, roast, boiled, and papillote because they do not need the use of fat.

• To improve the taste of your meals, use: herbs, citrus juices, spices, healthy vegetable oils and healthy dressing

• To obtain a healthier frying we must: use abundant oil, introduce the food when the oil is hot and at the end, place the food on a grill letting it drain and then on absorbent paper.

• It is not convenient to use the frying oil many times, because it decays with use.

Now that you know in detail some healthy and unhealthy ways of cooking, try the healthy ones and used it correctly so that your meals become nutritious and tasty, they will surely not disappoint you and even they could end up being including as your favorite cooking ways.

Healthy eating doesn’t mean that our meals have to be boring and tasteless, experiment with these healthy cooking methods in the kitchen and create all kinds of healthy meals.

Written by:

Roxana Sanchez

Dietitian - Nutritionist

Posted on October 2019