Cooking for Your Health
From Sonoma Diet
Onions are a nutritious food -- until you dip them in batter and deep-fry them. When it comes to healthful eating, your cooking technique is everything. While some cooking methods can help keep every bit of flavor and nutrition in your food, others can turn healthy fare into junk food. Some methods to avoid include frying and deep-frying, both of which add a lot of extra fat to your meals. And while boiling doesn't add any unhealthy elements to your meals, it takes away something important: the vitamins and minerals that are so necessary to your health. Here's a short list of cooking techniques that will keep you cooking light:
Baking: Applying dry heat at moderate temperatures (below 400°F) is a great way to cook almost any kind of meat, from fish fillets to roasts. Baking usually requires little or no fat, and foods cook relatively quickly.
Broiling: Foods cook under high heat, usually below the heating element. This allows fat to drip away.
Grilling: Foods are cooked over an open flame or other direct heat. This method requires no fat and imparts maximum flavor.
Steaming: Quickly cooking foods in a steamer basket above a small amount of boiling water allows foods (especially vegetables) to retain most of their nutrients.
