TIPS FOR HEALTHY COOKING
Knowing how to cook low fat and healthy recipes can make dieting easier. Buy a low fat cookery book for recipes to inspire you.
Here are some ways to reduce fat and calorie content in recipes:
- Trim visible fat and remove skin before cooking.
- Brown mince without adding oil.
- Avoid making gravy from the juices of the meat. Use stock cubes, stock and corn flour or a little gravy powder for a lower fat method.
- Lentils and beans are low fat alternatives to meat.
- Measure oil when cooking. You are likely to use more than needed when guessing quantities.
- Avoid frying where possible. Use steaming, grilling, boiling, baking or roasting on a rack for low fat alternatives.
Here are some more tasty alternatives and ideas:
- Use fruit rather than sugar to sweeten desserts.
- Use pureed vegetables e.g. tomato as a base for sauces rather than cream.
- Bulk out suitable recipes by adding extra vegetables.
- When making chips, par boil thickly cut potatoes, spread on a baking sheet and spray with an olive oil spray. Bake until crisp for really low fat chips.
- Make mashed potato creamy using semi-skimmed milk instead of butter.
- Use low fat spread for sandwiches instead of butter.
- Top jacket potatoes with tuna or beans instead of butter or cheese.
- Use reduced or low fat varieties where possible.
- Use smaller quantities of stronger tasting cheese.
- Soft cheese such as Ricotta, Brie and Feta are lower in fat than hard cheeses such as Stilton and Cheddar.
- Replace cream in recipes with low fat crème fraiche, low fat fromage frais or yoghurt.
- Choose lean cuts of meat such as sirloin rather than stewing steak.
Using herbs and spices to flavour dishes can reduce the need for added salt and fat.
Click on the PDF attachment to the top right of this page to find out which combinations work well together.
Understanding Food Labels
When shopping for food, it can help to know a little about food labels in order to choose the healthiest options.
Click here for more information on Understanding Labelling.
