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.
