Incorporating healthy, nutritionally balanced foods into your daily routine is one thing. But preparing them in such a way that they retain as much of their health benefits as possible is another. Preparation itself is not just about preparation, it starts with the first contact with the food we are going to process.
Wash fresh fruit and vegetables thoroughly
It may be trivial, but don't forget that we live in an age in which pesticides play a significant role in the cultivation of agricultural crops. Washing properly will get rid of as many pesticides as possible on the surface of your food. However, washing them with plain water may not be enough. Try soaking in vinegar water, lemon juice or salt water.
Prepare a brine consisting of 1:9, one part vinegar or salt to nine parts water. Soak the fruit or vegetables in the brine for about 15 minutes. Then rinse with water.
Vinegar brine can be aggressive on foods with very delicate surfaces such as strawberries, raspberries, apricots. Therefore, use lemon juice instead.
Stainless steel bowls are great for soaking in the brine, which you can see here >>.
Use wooden boards for slicing
Wooden cutting boards are significantly better than plastic ones in terms of hygiene. Research has shown that bacteria that can remain in the notches are unable to reproduce in wood. As the bacteria are unable to survive, they cannot get onto your food from the notches.
You can choose your cutting boards here >>.
Grate, cut food only just before processing
Oxidation leads to loss of vitamins, so grate or cut food just before processing. If for some reason you have to save the cut/sliced pieces for later, store them in airtight containers. Use stainless steel or plastic slicers (plastic graters) for slicing and grating.
Use only the minimum amount of fat
Oil or other fats are usually only used in sautéing to prevent the food from sticking to the hot pan. If you want to switch to a healthier way of cooking, make sure you have a pan with a special non-stick surface. You won't need oil or other frying fat. In addition, most foods naturally contain some amount of fat in them; this is released during frying and naturally replaces oil. If you want the food to be juicier you can moisten the surface of the pan with water or broth before frying.
At Berndorf Sandrik, we produce high-quality pans with even heating all around and, of course, a non-stick surface. Try our Black Cube, Black Granite or Brown Granite pans.
Cook in a way that preserves as many health benefits as possible
There are various tricks and tips on how to prepare food so that it retains as many nutrients as possible. Steaming vegetables is definitely the best way to preserve vitamins. But for some recipes, you simply have to steam the vegetables. Today we bring you some tips on how to cook a dish and preserve as much of its nutrients as possible.
- If possible, cook vegetables whole (even in the peel), not sliced.
- Cook vegetables under a lid.
- Just add salt to the vegetables at the end of cooking, it won't have time to draw out as much juice from the vegetables.
- Some vegetables lose most of their vitamins at temperatures between 40 - 60 °C. It is therefore preferable to add the vegetables to boiling water.
- Use smaller quantities of water. Do not pour off the water after cooking; you can use it for soups or sauces.
- Do not boil the vegetables until soft but until they are semi-soft 'al dente'.
- Only cook vegetables cut into small pieces for a minimum amount of time.
- Add the chopped parsley to the cooking only after it has been removed from the stove.
Good quality pots help in the preparation of a good quality dish. You can see our range of pots here >>.
A pressure cooker definitely contributes to the preservation of health benefits in food, as it reduces cooking time and does not allow vitamins to escape into the air in the form of steam. You can read more about cooking in a pressure cooker in our blog Pressure cookers - economical cooking (berndorf.sk). Our selection of pressure cookers can be found here >>.
We hope that we have once again brought you interesting information and inspired you to cook healthier. The food you eat can be medicine, but it can also be poison. Choose your menu composition wisely and you can easily adapt it with our Berndorf Sandrik products.
