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.
