Healthy Cookware: Your 2015 guide to healthier cooking

With the start of a new year comes the aspiration to lead a healthier lifestyle. More exercise and a cleaner diet are always great resolutions to make. But when it comes to improving your diet, where do you start?

Along with choosing the right ingredients it is important to have the right cookware for making sure you get the maximum health benefits from your meals.

Here is a list of our favourite healthy cookware to get you started!

1.     Reversible Griddle

Griddles are great for preparing lighter healthier meals in very little time. From red meat and poultry to vegetables and eggs you can prepare a high majority of foods with minimal fuss and maximum gain.

Cooking meat on a griddle is a great way to reduce fat content. It requires little to no oil and as the meat cooks any excess fat will drain way.

The reversible griddle can be used indoors and outdoors on the Barbeque making it a great piece of cookware all year round.

Quick tip: Always use your griddle on a high heat to prevent sticking.

2.     Steamer

The main benefit of steaming food is that it will retain the maximum amount of nutrients.

Steaming your vegetables will mean they will maintain their taste, colour and overall structure, require no oil and contain a high level of vitamins and minerals.

This wonderful piece of cookware is also great for cooking fruits, grains and legumes and will mean you can prepare food on several levels at the same time, saving energy.

3.     Wok

Wok cooking, also called stir-frying, can be a healthy way to prepare meals. However this is only the case if you do not use a lot of oil or high fat and high salt ingredients.

If you take the above points in to consideration its benefits consist of limiting fat content and minimising nutrient losses. Using this versatile piece of cookware will require you to use a little bit of oil to prevent sticking but due to cooking on a high heat, stir-frying vegetables will minimise the loss of vitamins and minerals compared to boiling, microwaving and roasting.

4.     Stockpot

Stock is an ingredient that we use time and time again in a wide range of recipes and this great piece of cookware will mean you can create your own from scratch. This will 100% result in healthier tastier meals. Stock is not as laborious as many people think, once it has been set up it will quite simply take care of itself.

Homemade stock is healthier due to lower salt content, more natural ingredients and will also save you money and reduce waste.

5.     Cat Iron casserole

Although in this article we have explained that quicker cooking times mean food retains its nutrients better, slow cooking is also a great way to prepare meals low in calories and with little effort.

By preparing meals in cast iron cookware such as a heavy casserole dish you will almost always include vegetables, stock (preferably homemade) and meat that requires tenderising  - meaning lower fat content.

You can always serve with additional vegetables at the end for a nutrients boost.