While cooking is fun, it can sometimes be challenging to create meals that taste good to everyone. This is especially true if you’re preparing a healthy meal. Sure, junk food is always tasty. But you want to make something for your family that’s tasty as well as healthy.
Here are some cooking tips that will add extra flavor to your food:
Chop Garlic towards the End
Garlic and onion release strong flavors when they’re chopped. If you chop them up in advance, some of those flavors will escape. It’s best to cut them up only when you’re ready to use them.
Of course, if you want to use onion for a raw application (like in a salad), you can soak the onion in a baking soda and water solution so they become less pungent.
Season Your Butter
If you want to make a healthy meal, you can’t use too much butter. So how do you enhance the flavor of the dish? It’s simple. Season your butter. Instead of using plain butter, use a seasoned variety.
There are many things with which you can season butter. For example, there’s garlic, thyme, and lemon zest. Here’s how you can season your butter – put it in a pan until it foams. Take it off the heat and add the herbs of your choice. Let the mix sit for some time and then strain it.
You can refrigerate this seasoned butter for future use too.
Add Citrus to your Kitchen
Citrus fruits are rich in Vitamin C, which makes them very healthy. And they’re also very tasty. Adding a dash of lemon can make the food tastier and healthier. But that’s not all. The zest of citrus fruits can add the much needed flavor in any dish.
Just grate the rinds of grapefruit, lemon, or orange into anything that you’re making. It helps in digestion and keeps food tasting fresh and flavorful. And the best part is that citrus zest can be added to sweet as well as savory dishes.
Cook Only on a Hot Pan
As soon as you put food on the pan, the temperature of the cooking surface will go down. So make sure you preheat the pan before you add the meats or veggies. The oil should shimmer before you add anything to it.
And if you’re cooking protein, you should wait for the oil to be hot enough so you can see a little smoke rising from the oil.
Use Blended Salts
Many chefs use blended salts as they add a different flavor to the food they prepare. Since they have complex flavors and balance each other, blended salts can be a great addition to any dish. This is especially true when your dish is going to be a high calorie one with a lot of fats. Or when it’s a light meal with healthy sides.
Salt blends can be made using herbs. For example, you can add ground up rosemary or coriander to a base salt. You can even toast the spices on a dry pan before adding them to the salt.
A Pinch of Sugar Seasoning
Sugar is a very odd choice of seasoning but a pinch of powdered sugar can add a different taste to browned foods, especially lean proteins like seafood or chicken. You can use it on vegetables as well. While sugar is reserved mainly for desserts, it can be a good addition to savory foods as well. But since sugar is all carbs, don’t overdo it.
Experiment and Find New Ways
As you cook more and more, you’ll find your own secret ways to add flavors to any food without compromising on its health benefits. Go ahead and try these neat tips and surprise your friends and family with new flavors.
