When I first started cooking, I made sure to precisely follow the ingredient list and directions on a recipe. However, over the course of my journey to cook healthier, I have learned that you can substitute healthy ingredients for unhealthy ones and still end up with an enjoyable finished product.
For instance, when it comes to fats, you can cut down on saturated fat intake by substituting Canadian bacon or lean prosciutto for bacon or using applesauce in your baked goods instead of butter. For more on the importance of cutting out saturated fat, read my previous post: http://www.doctorchrisko.blogspot.com/2013/07/cooking-for-your-kids-you-take-good-and.html
Sometimes you are forced to substitute one ingredient for another because one particular ingredient in a recipe is not available. For instance, maybe a recipe calls for some freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice but you don't have any citrus fruit available. Try using the acid from vinegar instead.
In the following clip, I show you how you can substitute one lean protein for another and still end up with a tasty and satisfying dish:
Fish is a uniquely healthy protein, which provides essential omega 3 fats. http://doctorchrisko.blogspot.com/2013/07/cooking-for-your-kids-good-bad-and.html But no one likes dry baked fish. One way to keep your fish moist is to seal your baked fish in a packet of aluminum foil. Sealing then baking your fish in aluminum foil essentially steams the fish in its own juices, resulting in a moist and succulent fish. This is a version of the french technique of cooking En papillote. In this method, food is placed into a folded pouch, typically made out of parchment paper. However, instead of parchment paper, you can just use aluminum foil. You can bake a whole fish en papillote or you can make individual pouches for individual filets. Besides producing delicious fish, this technique also allows for easy clean up!
When you cook for family, friends, wives, parents, and children, you are dealing with many different tastes and many different opinions. However, there is one thing everyone can agree upon. No one likes dry fish. In my previous post, I extolled the nutritional virtues of fish and I demonstrated an easy way of serving up moist, tender fish by steaming a whole fish: http://www.doctorchrisko.blogspot.com/2013/07/cooking-for-your-kids-good-bad-and.html Unfortunately, when I have attempted baked fish, it often turns out dry and unappetizing. Polite guests push the dry fish around their plate, but clearly they're not happy. My wife is too nice to say anything, but I know what she is thinking. My mom and my kids express their displeasure in less subtle ways. Recently, I learned a technique to bake fish by burying it in whipped eggs. The whipped eggs form a crust around the fish, keeping the fish moist and succulent. Enjoy!
A couple of posts ago, I mentioned that fresh food is always better. Unfortunately, in the dead of winter, fresh food isn't always available. The fresh vegetables that are delivered to your local grocer may have spent several days in transit, losing a significant amount of their nutrient content in the process. Frozen vegetables are harvested at the peak of ripeness and are a good option during wintertime. Canned vegetables are also picked at the peak of ripeness. They are then blanched and canned within a few hours of being picked, which seals in their nutrients. One study found that the nutritional content of canned vegetables was comparable to that of fresh vegetables. Vegetables such as tomatoes are particularly amenable to canning. For instance, the lycopene in tomatoes may actually be more bioavailable after it has gone through a process of canning. And while canned vegetables are a good option during wintertime, fruit is not ideally eaten out of a can. Many canned fruits have been peeled and stripped of their fiber. In addition, canned fruit is often steeped in a sugary juice to prevent the fruit sugar from leeching out and rendering the fruit tasteless. In the following clip entitled, "Top Home Chef", I show you how any home chef can utilize canned ingredients to make easy and tasty meals for their kids. This video features a version of huevos rancheros, a healthy egg breakfast. To read more about why eggs are healthy, check out my previous post: http://doctorchrisko.blogspot.com/2013/08/cooking-for-your-kids-daily-egg-or.html
Click to Facebook: http://on.fb.me/19IzP9t Here is the link to the recipe that I used in the above clip. Instead of corn tortillas, I used whole corn kernels from a can. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/huevos-rancheros-recipe/index.html References
http://nutrican.fshn.uiuc.edu/summaryfindings.html Nassauer, Sarah. "Frozen Produce Seeks Respect Promising Nutrients, Convenience." The Wall Street Journal 31 Dec. 2013. Print.
