Some cooks can take the worst collection of ingredients and with a little stirring, a little simmering and apparently a little magic make it taste good. Conversely there are other cooks that can take the best foods, and with a lot of spilling and even more swearing serve up food that should not be given to the family dog. So, is it the food or the method that either makes or breaks a meal?
Actually, it could be both. Or it could be the spices that are added or not added to the meal. Certain foods react poorly to certain cooking methods or spices, and because healthier foods have less chemicals to hide their flavor, any imperfection will stand out more. Take tofu for instance. It is an excellent source of protein and is basically flavorless on its own. It picks up flavors from the foods that it is cooked with and in some cases the pan that it is cooked in. If you cook in cast iron for instance, you may notice a faint metallic taste to your tofu dish.
Lemon infused broccoli is a delicious dish, but if you add the lemon too soon it will turn the broccoli a wretched brown color. I steam the broccoli and add the lemon to the water that I am using to steam with, when it is finished cooking, I toss in a little bit of lemon zest for additional flavor and color.
Other vegetables can benefit from a little burst of flavor as well. Take peas for instance. They are perfectly fine on their own, but every now and then you can add pearl onions for variety or a splash of light Italian dressing.
Careful and gentle cooking methods is imperative especially with the more delicate food selections. Dainty strips of chicken breast will not stand up to rough treatment, you must saute them gently and slowly in really good olive oil, turning them only as often as needed to prevent sticking or burning. If you are adding garlic to the dish, lightly cook it with the oil first and then remove it before adding the chicken. Garlic burns very quickly and will give your dish a bitter taste. The olive oil will pick up the flavor of the garlic and so will your chicken.
Use fresh herbs whenever possible- in fact you could grow a small variety of common cooking herbs right in your window sill, snip off some leaves as you need to and have the satisfaction of not only cooking your own meal, but growing part of it as well. Some very easy and tasty herbs to try are basil, rosemary, sage and thyme. The more leaves that you snip off your basil plant, the more it will grow. Trim the leaves and keep them stored in a zippered bag or use them to make a homemade pesto.
Healthy foods are not any harder to cook than the unhealthier fare, so treat yourself and your family well, and feed them great tasting, healthy foods.
