Do any of you have any basic healthy starter recipes that I could try out and hope come out better than the random stuff I threw together earlier?
Posted Jun 23, 2010, 1:15 AM UTC
Name a food you like to eat in restaurants and we will help you cook it
Also,
Look up Alton Brown's "Good Eats" show, either youtube, on the Food Network, or so on. He's the Bill Nye of food shows.
You learn all sorts of shit watching his show. And, you laugh.
I'd like to know what you made and how you made it.
Well I tried to cook kabobs simply because it sounded like something simple (I was wrong). Chicken, shrimp, pineapple, red peppers, and tomatoes with an olive oil garlic (I mixed random seasonings, bad idea) marinade. It came out pretty but tasted horrible.
I'm overweight so I'm trying to be healthy by switching to cooking my own food so I really like pretty much everything (with the exception of being able to eat fish due to allergies (but I can eat shellfish)) so any ideas would be nice.
Another problem aside from the marinade is that you had 2 different proteins with different cooking times on there.
If he cooked the shrimp one one skewer and the chicken on another with the respective cooking times before putting them onto the display skewers, that would work.
That makes sense, I'll keep that in mind for the next time.
Very true. I just assumed he threw everything randomly onto a skewer :P
Ah, now I see why your stomach hurts!
Next time, make sure to remove the skewer before consuming.
B...But it adds the crunch! What else would I use to replace that!?
Rosemary stems....no really. Not extremely tasty and a bit chewy, but better than bamboo ;)
Yea seriously what seasonings did you use? Those look like tasty kabobs. Even without ANY seasoning, it should be tasty grilled meat and veggies. Start with salt and pepper, add some garlic and branch out slowly. Add one or 2 things, not the whole spice cabinet.
I think that was my main issue. I kind of went crazy on the seasonings and just tried 3 things that smelled good. (Just bought a spice rack)
Aw man, it wasn't good? It looks great! What seasonings did you use?
A dab of Olive Oil, Fresh Garlic, Basil, Sage, and I have no idea but it smelled good. Never doing that again.
I don't think there is anything wrong with the seasoning..
Probably too much sage.
I'm with telllos, that sounds pretty good to me. Perhaps too much raw garlic? It can be quite strong when raw.
I'd blame the sage, all the rest goes very well together.
Basil tends to go bitter when cooked to long. IMO its something thats better used fresh and added near the end of the cooking process.
It could be because of the red peppers, some times it gives me stomach ache. try removing the skin of the peppers.
i just started cooking as well, you should try your favorite meals but the healthier version. the book "cook this not that" is a great way to do this. I really enjoy chicken fingers and onion rings, so I cut raw chicken into tenders, dipped them in egg whites and bread crumbs and did the same to the onions and threw them in the oven for 15 minutes. they were crispy like normal chicken fingers and onion rings but a much healthier alternative!
Here's a good introduction to some quick, cheap, and easy meals:
I am an experienced, enough, chef and was surprised to find some really fun recipes in there. Thanks for the link.
If you want quick, cheap and healthy, cook a big pot of chili, curry, or the like thats fairly spicy. Cooking in large quantities is cheaper, you can freeze a bunch, and the spiciness will increase the shelf life of what you don't freeze. Beans and lentils are your friends. There are no real recipes for these things, just a general idea. We can make you better, faster, stronger.
Edit: Also Good Eats
You know what's healthy? cutting down portion sizes (if you eat a lot) :( I still gained weight on my own cooking, just fyi.
Back on topic, my starter dish was spaghetti (and before that, fried eggs and ham/sausage for breakfast).
Try making it with normal tomato sauce instead of the pre-mix ready to eat stuff. Panfry your own ground beef/meat and add chopped carrots, onions, celery. Maybe extra seasonings like oregano, then add the tomato sauce and simmer/low heat for a bit before serving.
I don't have the exact details on my head, but chances are Alton Brown has a recipe somewhere if you get into it.
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This sounds delicious! I'll give it a shot over the weekend. Thanks!
Good luck! Let me know how it turns out.
Go to your local bookstore and buy a 'cooking light' cook book... it doesn't have to have a celebrity chef/weight loss guru attached to the title.
Grilling is a good skill to start with, and not as hard to master as some over eager males would have you believe.
Think spice, not fat, but accept that fat is a part of cooking.
Use olive oil unless the recipe calls for High Heat.
A single fried egg, cooked with PAM, is delicous and not unhealthy. Plus, if you can master the art of cooking a fried egg with out using a spatula, I guarantee the first person to see that skill will fall in love with you.
We only pretend like it's hard so we have an excuse to go outside and drink a beer in the sun.
Go to your local bookstore and buy a 'cooking light' cook book
Bingo! America's Test Kitchen or Cooks Illustrated will never steer you wrong.
i think the best way to learn is sticking with simple stuff - if you can make a dish you like with 5 ingredients, you're doing good.
cauliflower, olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice, salt. roast in oven at 350 until fork-tender. amazing.... i could eat this every day.
Pasta is the easiest way to get into cooking in my opinion. Start out simple, buy store sauce and noodles, heat the sauce and cook the noodles. After that start adding your own ingredients.
Great idea, I second that. Pasta and grilled cheese will get you 80% of the way to chefdom if you just keep kicking it up a notch every time you make it successfully.
Pasta and cheese... everyday
I don't wanna scare my roommate into posting on online communities about me.
Skip store-bought sauce. Buy a 32-oz. can of Italian (plum) peeled tomatoes, whole or crushed. Crush a clove of garlic and saute it for a few minutes over low heat in olive oil. Dump in the tomatoes, add and some oregano, basil, a little salt and pepper, and a tablespoon of any dry red wine. Bust up the tomatoes if you bought whole. Simmer for 30 minutes, serve over pasta.
Have to one up this one and say, buy San Marzano tomatoes. Not San Marzano BRAND but real San Marzano tomatoes, whole, canned. Use about 2 cans or more, drain the tomatoes, cut them up with scissors. Add a couple cloves garlic, a white onion cut in half and peeled, about 4 TBSP butter, a bit of salt. Simmer until desired thickness about 40 minutes.
Serve with spaghetti, picks up the chunky sauce best. Once you get that down, serve it with these http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Kittencals-Famous-Italian-Melt-In-Your-Mouth-Meatballs-69173
Sounds easy enough. Alright, I think I'll do this for dinner. I'll post back with the results.
Make sure you buy whole wheat pasta. The store brand wheat pasta is still cheap but much better for you.
You were right! I cooked some pasta for dinner tonight and it came out perfect. Thanks a lot!
Sorry about your kabobs, but I'm glad it didn't discourage you.
Here's something to try, Sin City Breakfast Tacos, courtesy of Robert Rodriguez, director extraordinaire. I suggest watching the video a few times and taking notes before starting. Even though it's a simple recipe, the video goes too quick to follow along. And careful with the amount of butter/lard he uses. I personally don't believe that fats alone make people fat, but it certainly doesn't help. Also, don't feel like you have to do everything at once, like he does. I would even make the tortillas a few times without the other stuff. They taste best fresh, but are pretty good reheated as well. Besides, tortillas taste awesome by themselves anyway.
edit: One other thing, he does something that all cooks should do, and something you should practice in your journey to becoming a cook. TASTE EVERYTHING. Don't go sticking raw meat in your mouth, but taste whenever it's safe to do so, and as frequently as possible. Especially when it comes to salting. Salt a little, then taste, salt more as needed. Eventually, you'll get a feel for how much seasoning your food needs, and that skill is invaluable. To me, a bland or overseasoned dish just screams "unskilled cook."
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Try some basic whole wheat spaghetti, with pasta sauce. An easy homemade recipe is ground beef, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, lemon pepper, italian seasonings such as oregano, thyme, and basil and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Just brown 1/2 lb meat, adding the garlic and onion about halfway through. Add a 8-oz can tomato sauce and a Tbsp or two of tomato paste. Then season to taste. Toss with 1/2 lb of spaghetti and serve with bread and a simple side salad. Easy, tasty and cheap.
Since OP is trying to lose weight, I suggest replacing the ground beef with ground turkey. When I need protein and I want ground something, turkey is just as satisfying as beef, with the bonus that it's much lower in saturated fat and cholesterol. I second the whole wheat pasta--whole grains are key to nutrition.
Not a bad idea but keep in mind more seasonings are needed to flavor turkey than ground beef. I would suggest topping it with a small amount of parmesan or mozzarella, low in fat but high in flavor. Fresh basil, instead of dried, also makes for a very flavorful dish
I second the whole wheat pasta--whole grains are key to nutrition.
Yes, they're better than non-whole grains but I wouldn't say they're key to nutrition.
When I went to the store earlier I actually never saw any whole wheat spaghetti, but I'll go to another one and see if I can find some. Thanks!
Be sure to look for 100% whole wheat. Any other "whole grain" is usually only about 50%.
I taught my 12yo son to make breadsticks with my fool-proof' recipe. He did it right on the first try.Interested?
Iunno about that guy but I definitely am!
Sounds good! Yea I'm interested!
For pizza crust/breadsticks:
1 C warm water 1 tsp yeast 1tbsp honey (may sub. sugar) 1/8 tsp salt 1/4 C olive oil (may sub other oil. olive oil tastes best) 2.5 C flour
Pour water into large bowl. Whisk in yeast and then honey, then salt and oil. Really mix this well. Add all the flour and whisk until mixed. It will be a big glob. Too little flour and it will be runny.
Let sit in bowl until it rises. Depending on the climate in your house/time of year it will take 1-3 hours.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees F
Rub olive oil into center of pizza pan
Lift a glob of dough with a fork and place on pan. Flour top preferably with sifter and roll out dough. I prebake the crust for 2 minutes and flip it. This makes the leftovers better. Add toppings and bake for 8-10 minutes ( to taste).
You may also oil the top of the dough before the 'flip' so that it fries while the pizza is baking. To make breadsticks: roll the dough gently and leave it about 1 inch thick. Press down several lines into the dough ( all the way to the pan). The breadsticks should all be touching. This will give them open doughy, steamy sides after baking. I top with ground oregano and basil ( and salt) before baking. You may also sprinkle on some mozzarella, etc.
The variations are endless and it's always delicious. You've only spent about 2-3$ at this point depending on the toppings and you've only got to clean one bowl and one whisk. The pan should be only wiped off so that it keeps the curing of the oil..Good luck!
edit: oops...1 C water...:(
The key to good food is simplicity. try to keep a protein, a carb, and a serving of fruit or vegetables with your meals. The less ingredients, the better (excluding spices, though this can also be true for them).
Once you've mastered basic cooking, look towards ways to make your dishes better. One of my favorite ways is brining meat before hand. By pounding and then soaking white meats in a salt and sugar solution, you make the meat 10X more moist and tender.
I try to avoid seasoning mix. and use the classics, salt, pepper, origano, thym, rose marry, sage, Basil, Garlic, and many more.
But nothing processed like "Xtra cool BBQ mix".
Hey, "Xtra cool BBQ mix" is awesome on home fries.
Other than that, you should try to make your own spice mixes rather than buying them from a store. If best to get the whole form of the spices such as cumin seeds and whole black peppercorn berries. This way the spices will last longer and taste better.
Yes that's what I do, I'm lucky my apartment has some kind of small Garden where I grow tomatoes, Thym, sage, rose mary, letuces and Sesame (it's used a lot in Korean food).
I hope this year I can make my own pesto :D
Grilled cheese, dude. Get some halfway decent bread, butter, and some halfway decent cheese. Grill that shit. Bam, done.
Make it over until you get it right. It should be like $10 - $15 for a whole loaf of grilled cheese. Even the mistakes will be delicious, unless you completely carbonize them.
Now Grilled Cheese I perfected on my journey to find the perfect PB & J when I was younger. Probably the only 2 things I can actually cook. Though you're right, even the mistakes we're delicious.
Just make sure the 'J' part is jam or preserves and not jelly. Snag some natural peanut butter. and whole wheat bread.
Look at the label on the jar/package, if it has crap in there that you cannot buy separately a the store, it's not food.
Grilled cheese... try this:
Take the butter out of the fridge about 10 min before you start. Again, butter, not margarine
Heat up 2 cast iron skillets ($2-3 at the local thrift store; blacker the better and will last for decades), like nuclear hot to where they are slightly smoking. ~5-7 min
Cut some 1" thick long slices off of a loaf of french bread
Put a small amount of mayo and/or whole grain mustard on 1 side of each slice
Butter the other side of each slice.
Grate some real cheese (if it comes individually wrapped...it's not cheese). Extra sharp cheddar, swiss, etc. Place a large mound, 1"+, of cheese on one slice
Build the sandwich and place in one of the pans
Turn the heat off of each pan and place the other pan on top of the sandwich.
Set timer for 4 minutes, then enjoy.
Chicken fajitas. Super easy, very tasty and lots of room to change things up and make it the way you like. Get one chicken breast, either marinade with some kind of garlic-lime concoction (homemade or bottled, doesn't matter), or use salt & pepper to season. Maybe a little sprinkle of cayenne pepper if you want some spice. Broil for about 10 minutes per side. You could also grill the chicken if you wish, or bake. I like to broil because the meat is very juicy.
Next up, slice some bell peppers and onion into long slivers. Saute these in a pan on the stove. If you like beans, empty a can of black beans into a saucepan and heat it up. Assemble with tortillas (can be store bought or homemade. Homemade is easy but a little more time consuming). Sprinkle on some cheese, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, the veggies you sauteed whatever you like. Slice the chicken in thin pieces to fit in the tortilla.
Keep lots of napkins nearby.
What did you cook?! Take something you really like; something that you can eat everyday. Find a recipe online or improv. Cook it every day or every other day. I did this with omelets. I kept making them until I was a pro, and then I branched out from there. You would be surprised at how much perfecting one thing will teach you about cooking. It allows you to get to know your stove for one. It allows you to use trial and error to see how long and at what setting things will cook on your stove top. Seriously, cooking is trial and error. The internet just gives you a nice learning curve.