The Microwave is My Friend

I like using the microwave to heat and de-frost food because it's fast and convenient, but I haven't actually used it to cook a dish. I have however tried 3 desserts using the microwave, but that will be for a different blog post.

I also avoid frying food. Especially deep-frying. I find that I'm sensitive to oily food and will feel sick if I eat too much of it (which isn't that much). I don't try to be THAT healthy, but my body just makes me.

So, besides WHFoods, I also like to read Science Daily for more info on healthy food and cooking.

Here are some very interesting and informative articles:

Antioxidant Levels In Cooked Vegetables Vary With Cooking Method -- Healthier To Griddle-Cook Or Microwave

This article shows that these methods make the highest loss of antioxidant for:

• Cauliflower - don't boil and microwave

• Peas - don't boil

• Zucchini - don't boil and fry  

Green beans, beets, garlic - keep their antioxidant levels after most cooking treatments (boiling, pressure-cooking, baking, microwaving, griddling and frying). 

Vegetables that increase their antioxidant levels after all cooking methods - Green beans (except after boiling), celery and carrots. 

Artichoke - the only vegetable that kept its high antioxidant level during all cooking methods. 

Griddle and microwave cooking helped maintain the highest levels of antioxidants, produced the lowest losses while "pressure-cooking and boiling [led] to the greatest losses".

Culinary Shocker: Cooking Can Preserve, Boost Nutrient Content Of Vegetables

Boiling and steaming maintains the antioxidant compounds of vegetables. 

Frying causes a significantly higher loss of antioxidants in comparison to the water-based cooking methods.

Now, I'm glad I don't like frying and fried food, but my family loves french fries. Glad to find out that Microwave Pre-Cooking Of French Fries Reduces Cancer Chemicals

The discovery of acrylamide - a possible carcinogenic in humans -- has led to much research being done to investigate the benefits of alternative cooking methods. Acrylamide forms during processes such as frying, baking and roasting where high-temperature and low-moisture conditions exist.  

Although numerous studies have been conducted to explore the possibilities of reducing acrylamide levels in French fries, a team of researchers from Turkey has shown that by reducing the frying time and hence the acrylamide formation by microwave pre-cooking of potato strips prior to frying. 

The researches showed that microwave application prior to frying resulted in a marked reduction of the acrylamide level in the surface region. When the potato strips were subjected to frying after a microwave pre-cooking step, acrylamide content in the whole potato strip was reduced by 36%, 41% and 60% for frying at 150, 170 and 190oC respectively. 

"Microwaving French fries before cooking takes little time and in fact, microwave pre-cooked samples fried to the same degree of cooking appeared to have a more acceptable colour, probably due to the more gentle heat treatment they experienced during frying," says lead author Koray Palazoglu, of the University of Mersin, Turkey.

Broccoli

Broccoli is considered one of the Top 10 Healthiest Vegetable to eat. So if you're not a fan of vegetable, try to at least have broccoli in your diet. WHFoods says that it provides you with a special cholesterol-lowering benefits if you cook it by steaming. Raw broccoli is good but steaming it is better as the cholesterol-lowering ability of raw broccoli improves significantly when it is steamed.

How to prepare :
Cut the broccoli florets into quarters and let sit for several minutes before cooking to enhance its health-promoting benefits. Steam for 5 minutes. 

WHFoods recommends to include broccoli as one of the cruciferous vegetables you eat on a regular basis. Have it at a minimum, 2-3 times per week, and have a serving size of 1-1/2 cups. The best would be to have it 4-5 times per week, and increase your serving size to 2 cups. 

Spinach

I like spinach. It's one of the vegetables that I've always liked. I especially love making poached eggs on spinach. Yum!

We all know that spinach is a great vegetable, but what's the best way to cook it?

According to WHFoods, they recommend boiling it to help reduce its concentration of oxalic acid. And to keep boiling time for just 1 minute to minimize loss of nutrients and flavor. The boiling water after cooking spinach should be discarded. Do not drink it or use for stock because of its acid content.

• Use a large pot (3 quart) with lots of water and bring to a rapid boil. Add spinach to the boiling water and boil for 1 minute. Begin timing as soon as you place the spinach in the pot if you are using 1 pound or less of spinach. If you are cooking larger quantities of spinach bring the water back to a boil before beginning timing the 1 minute. 
• Do not cover the pot when cooking spinach. Leaving the pot uncovered helps to release more of the acids with the rising steam. Research has shown that the boiling of spinach in large amounts of water helps decrease the oxalic acid content by as much as 50%.  

They also recommend to include foods belonging to the chenopod family- including beets, chard, spinach and quinoa - in your diet 1-2 times per week. For leafy food like spinach, the recommended serving size is at least ½ cup, and even more beneficial, one full cup.

Tomatoes

I never liked eating tomatoes when I was young. I started liking them in my late teens. And last year, I had the most awesome tomato soup in a hotel in Kerala! How random. But then again, I haven't tried many because I don't go to a restaurant and order tomato soup.

So, let's see all the goodness of tomatoes that WHFoods can tell us about:

• Lycopene - a carotenoid found in tomatoes (and everything made from them) - studied for its antioxidant and cancer-preventing properties. Prevention of heart disease has been shown to be another antioxidant role played by lycopene. They're found to be protective against a growing list of cancers which include colorectal, prostate, breast, endometrial, lung, and pancreatic cancers. 
• For the most lycopene, use the Whole Tomato (with peels) and choose organic
• Organic ketchup delivers 3 times as much of the cancer-fighting carotenoid, lycopene, as non-organic brands. Also, choose the deepest red organic ketchup, tomato sauce, juice and other tomato products for high lycopene levels.
• Lycopene has been shown to help protect not only against prostate, but breast, pancreatic and intestinal cancers, especially when consumed with fat-rich foods, such as avocado, olive oil or nuts. (This is because carotenoids are fat-soluble, meaning they are absorbed into the body along with fats.)
• Tomatoes and Broccoli Team Up to Fight Prostate Cancer. They're even more successful against prostate cancer when working as a team in the daily diet, shows a study published in Cancer Research.
• Cooked tomatoes may be better than raw tomatoes as chopping and heating make the cancer-fighting constituents of tomatoes and broccoli more bioavailable. 
• Practical Tips: While the phytonutrients in tomatoes become more concentrated when they are cooked into a sauce or paste, and more bioavailable when eaten with a little oil, those in broccoli will be greatly reduced if this vegetable is overcooked. Steam or healthy sauté broccoli no more than 5 minutes.
• Also, broccoli's cancer-preventive compounds form after it has been cut, but heat denatures the enzyme necessary for this process. For optimal nutrient formation, cut broccoli florets in half or into quarters, depending on their initial size, and let sit for 5 minutes before cooking.
• Serving Ideas: 
• Healthy sauté broccoli and onion, then add to your favorite breakfast omelet and serve with grilled tomatoes. 
• Enjoy a bowl of tomato soup along with a salad including broccoli florets for lunch. 
• Add lightly steamed broccoli florets to the tomato-paste toppings on your favorite pizza. 
• Healthy sauté broccoli florets along with other favorite vegetables, such as onions and mushrooms, add to pasta sauce and use to top whole wheat pasta or brown rice. 
• For a quick snack, serve raw broccoli florets along with the carrot and celery sticks, dip and crackers, and toast your prostate's health with a glass of tomato juice.
   
• Tomatoes and Green Tea Team Up to Prevent Prostate Cancer. Other lycopene-rich fruits and vegetables - tomatoes, apricots, pink grapefruit, watermelon, papaya, and guava. Regular consumption of both green tea and foods rich in lycopene resulted in a synergistic protective effect, stronger than the protection afforded by either, the researchers noted. 
• Practical Tips: 
• Get in the habit of drinking green tea and eating lycopene-rich foods. Take a quart of iced green tea to work and sip throughout the day or take it to the gym to provide prostate protection while replenishing fluids after your workout. 
• Pack a ziploc bag of apricots and almonds in your briefcase or gym bag for a handy snack. 
• Start your breakfast with a half grapefruit or a glass of papaya or guava juice. 
• It is especially important when cooking tomatoes to NOT use aluminum cookware since their high acid content will interact with the metal. This may result in the migration of the aluminum into the food, which will not only impart an unpleasant taste, but more importantly, may have deleterious effects on your health.

A Few Quick Serving Ideas:

• To make your own tomato paste, simply healthy sauté a couple of cloves of chopped garlic and/or 1-2 large chopped onions a couple of minutes until translucent, then add 8-10 chopped whole tomatoes, a teaspoon of dried or several teaspoons of fresh chopped oregano, basil, and any other herbs you enjoy, such as parsley or rosemary, and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Remove from the heat, drizzle with olive oil, and add sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. For a fancier version, sauté chopped olives and/or mushrooms along with the garlic and onions.
• Tomatoes are a great addition to bean and vegetable soups.
• Enjoy a classic Italian salad-sliced onions, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese drizzled with olive oil.
• Combine chopped onions, tomatoes, and chili peppers for an easy to make salsa dip.
• Purée tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers and scallions together in a food processor and season with herbs and spices of your choice to make the refreshing cold soup, gazpacho.
• Add tomato slices to sandwiches and salads. To keep things colorful, use yellow, green and purple tomatoes in addition to red ones.
• Begin lunch or dinner with some spicy tomato juice on the rocks with a twist of lime.
• Snack on tomato crostini: in the oven, toast whole wheat bread till crusty, then top with tomato sauce, herbs, a little grated cheese, and reheat until the cheese melts. Top whole wheat pasta with olive oil, pine nuts, feta cheese and a rich tomato sauce for lunch or dinner.  
• While drinking 13.5 ounces of plain tomato juice every day may seem a bit challenging, enjoying a cup of tomato juice with lunch, a cup of hot tomato juice into which an ounce of tomato ketchup has been stirred along with some freshly ground pepper as an afternoon "soup" break, and/or a Virgin Mary (the alcohol-free counterpart to the Blood Mary) before dinner would provide some taste diversity along with the amount of tomato products effective in the research.  

Onions and Garlic

Most of my favorite dishes start with sauteing onion and garlic. As I want to cook healthily, I found interesting facts at WHFoods' Onions and Garlic articles:

ONION

• Don't overpeel onions as the flavonoids are more concentrated in the outer onion layers.
• The quercetin in onions do not get degraded when they're simmered to make soup. It's just transferred into the water. You can preserve the health benefits of onion by making onion soup using a low-heat method.
• Several servings of onion each week are sufficient to statistically lower your risk of some types of cancer. For colorectal, laryngeal, and ovarian cancer, between 1-7 servings of onion has been shown to provide risk reduction. But for decreased risk of oral and esophageal cancer, you'll need to consume one onion serving per day (approximately ½ cup). 
• Try to include at least 1 medium onion in your recipes and one-half of an onion in your individual food portion. 
• To bring out the sweet flavor of onions use the Healthy Sauté method of cooking onions for just 7 minutes. Cut onions into slices of equal ¼-inch thickness to help them cook more evenly. The thinner you slice the onions the more quickly they will cook.  
•  to enhance their health-promoting properties.
•  The Healthiest Way of Cooking Onions - how to enjoy them as a healthy side dish. Heat 2 TBS vegetable or chicken broth over medium heat in a stainless steel skillet. When broth begins to steam, add onions and cover for 3 minutes. The onions will release a small amount of liquid. Uncover, add another 2 TBS broth, and continue to stir for 4 minutes, leaving the lid off. For the best flavor toss onions with olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste while they are still hot. For details see, 7-Minute Healthy Sautéed Onions

GARLIC

• Increase the health benefits of garlic by letting it sit for 5 minutes after it is chopped or crushed as it will give the alliinase enzymes in garlic an opportunity to work on behalf of your health. 
• For example, in the absence of chopping or crushing, research has shown that just 60 seconds of immediate microwaving will cause garlic to lose some of its cancer-protective properties. Immediate boiling of whole, intact garlic will also lower these properties, as will immediate addition of a very low-acid ingredient like lemon juice.
• Have at least one serving of an allium vegetable-such as garlic-in your meal plan every day. Try to include at least ½ clove in your individual food portion. If you're preparing a recipe, we recommend at least 1-2 cloves.
• It is recommended using raw chopped or pressed garlic. However, if you cannot tolerate raw garlic, you can add chopped garlic to foods while they are cooking. It is best to add it towards the end of the cooking process to retain the maximum amount of flavor and nutrition
• Do not store garlic in oil at room temperature. Garlic-in-oil mixtures stored at room temperature provide perfect conditions for producing botulism, regardless of whether the garlic is fresh or has been roasted.  
• Add chopped garlic towards the end of the cooking time to retain maximum flavor and nutrition. Too much heat for too long will reduce the activity of the health-promoting sulfur compounds that have formed by letting it sit for 5-10 minutes; it will also make garlic bitter. Therefore expose garlic to heat for as little time as possible (5-15 minutes).