Starting Out Cooking...

Austadophilus5

I've never really cooked that much in my life before, so I've always wanted to learn in order to eat better instead of getting fast food. Any tips for starting out with cooking clean and any super easy beginner recipes would be amazing. I'm also looking for healthy drink ideas too besides water. Smoothie ideas? Lunch ideas? All welcome.

oowyrakcaj

I find green and herbal teas very refreshing as an alternative to water, or even earl grey or lapsang souchong with a drop of milk.
With smoothies, I keep bags of mixed berries in the freezer to make it cold, so it's a bit like a pudding. I blend 80g of them with a banana and some skimmed milk, which gives you two of your five-a-day in a delicious pudding-drink! I also add a spoonful of wheatgerm to it for some texture, protein and fibre.

I've found the best thing to cook healthy meals in is a wok. It's the most amazing thing for easy delicious meals, especially if you have one with a lid. Another incredible thing to cook with is Quorn instead of meat. I find it easier to cook with by far, and it's lower in fat than meat, and a good source of protein. It comes in chicken chunks, beef strips, lamb strips, meatballs, mince, bacon and more that I can't remember, but it's fantastic! Earlier this week I spent a few hours cooking with it to make lunches for the next month or so, using a wok and a saucepan. Using oil spray is a great way to reduce fat too.
A few quick recipes for you (I usually made enough for 4 portions, so I could freeze it individually, then I can just heat them up when I want one - a great 'ready meal' that you made yourself!)

Curry: This one is silly easy. Fry 300g Quorn (I used chicken) in a wok for a few minutes, then pour on a jar of healthy-choice curry sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Stroganoff: Chop one onion, and fry for 5 minutes, then add two chopped cloves of garlic and a tbsp of paprika, and fry for another minute. Add 300g of chopped mushrooms (and 150g beef Quorn if wanted) and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Pour in 150ml beef stock and 1tbsp Worcestershire sauce and bubble for 5-10 minutes until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat, and after a couple of minutes, stir in 3tbsp low-fat creme fraiche.

Tagine: Fry one chopped onion for 5 minutes. Add 300g Quorn (I used lamb, but chicken would work well too), 2 chopped garlic cloves, 1tsp mixed herbs, 1/2 tsp cumin, 2tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp chilli powder and 1tsp cayenne pepper and cook for another minute. Add 75g chopped dried apricots, 60g sultanas, two chopped peppers and a 400g can of chopped tomatoes and stir. Pour in 400ml vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Season with salt and pepper to taste, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Drain a 400g can of chickpeas and add, then cook until vegetables are tender. I found this recipe makes enough for 6.

These are all freezable and are great served with rice.

If you're after a really quick meal, here's one for you:

Get a tortilla wrap, and spread a couple of spoons of tomato puree onto it. Add your favourite vegetables to it, and then sprinkle approx 30g low fat cheddar over the top. Bake in the oven until your cheese is melty and bubbly and delicious, and you have yourself a quick healthy pizza!

Hope this helps you!

froeschli

Healthy cooking starts in the grocery store :-) go for deep colored vegetables and fruit, pick the whole grain version of bread, pasta etc.

a lot of things you can bake/broil in the oven, instead of frying (chicken breast, roasted vegetables, etc.) times vary and it is handy to have a good meat thermometer on hand.

i've just gotten into salads, chop up whatever you want in it, then make a dressing - i find bought ones have a lot of crap in them... so i use an egg, plus whatever i want to flavour it with (mayo, mustard, garlic, herbs, veggie bits etc...) blend it till smooth and voila. (to make the egg safe to use, you "coddle" it - put it in a cup and pour boiling water over it, let stand for 1-2 min. then it's ready.

you know what you like to eat, the rest is research, trial and error...

have fun :-)

ameliaannakin

My food diary blog - ameliasfooddiary.wordpress.com - might give you some ideas. I try to make all my meals from scratch . I also really like the BBC Good Food website for recipe ideas!

Ax

Austadophilus5

Thank you all! I'll look into getting a wok. The strogonaff and the easy healthy pizza recipes are my favorite. Even I didn't mess it up! Thank you so much!