Cooking Tips

Make cooking easier with these handy tips

Here's how:

Add veggies to everyday recipes

Incorporate healthy vegetables into the foods you already cook. Finely shredded zucchini and carrots can be added to pancake or muffin mix, tuna salad, canned soups, and casseroles.

Cut the perfect pineapple

Cut off the stem and rind, then stand your pineapple upright and slice away the skin from top to bottom. Next, cut diagonal grooves following the lines of eyes. Quarter the pineapple lengthwise, slice out the core, and cut into bite-size pieces.

Freeze unused herbs in olive oil

Herbs come by the bunch. Cut up your leftover herbs and freeze them in an ice cube tray filled with water or olive oil, keeping them easily on-hand for many more meals to come.

How to Blanch Beets

Video provided via Create Better Health Utah--Utah State University

How to Grill Summer Squash

Video provided via The Ohio State University Extension

How to Grill Sweet Corn

Video provided via The Ohio State University Extension

How to Measure Ingredients

Video provided via The Ohio State University Extension

How to Roast Vegetables

Video provided via Create Better Health Utah--Utah State University

How to Sauté

Video provided via Create Better Health Utah--Utah State University

Make a healthy swap with cauliflower

Steam cauliflower, then mash and season it the same way you would make mashed potatoes, for a less starchy side dish. Replace pasta with baked squash, pulled apart with a fork, for fewer carbs and calories.

Make a meal plan to reuse ingredients

Think about how you can reuse leftover ingredients from meal to meal. Random vegetables can come together in delicious soups, and unused fruit can quickly become a tasty smoothie.

Save your ripe bananas

As bananas ripen, their starch turns to sugar. Even though you might not eat brown bananas, you can still cook with them! Mash them into cookies, pancakes, and bread or freeze them in pieces and blend them into non-dairy ice cream.

Step-by-step pepper slicing

Cut off the top and bottom of your pepper. Make a slice length-wise down the pepper then lay it on its side. Guide your knife along the inside of the entire pepper, removing all the stems and seeds in one swoop.

Stock up on seasonal produce

Fruits and veggies are much more affordable when they’re in season. Take advantage of two-for-one sales and summer favorites then freeze what you don’t use for the following seasons.

Store foods the right way

Make your food last longer (and taste better!) by storing it properly. Tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, and basil should never be refrigerated. Honey, coffee, and bread are also better kept in a cupboard or pantry.

The trick to peeling garlic

Instead of peeling it by hand, smash your garlic cloves quickly with the side of a big knife, or between two cutting boards. The paper skin comes completely off, without the work of peeling.