Video Transcription:
In this video, we're going to talk about tips that you can use to make your food more delicious.
The first and most important thing is to keep it exciting- this is absolutely essential! If you want to eat in a healthy and sustainable way, it has to be exciting and interesting or else you're going to get bored.
Here are some tips to keep it exciting:
One of my favorite things to do is to salt food ahead of time. This is especially important for meat and fish. The larger the piece of meat, the longer you want to salt it. For example, a large roast or a turkey, you may salt overnight. Whereas if you're cooking burgers, you may mix in the salt a half hour before you cook it. You will notice if you salt meat or fish ahead of time, that it's much more moist when you cook it and eat it. So I highly recommend using this tip. And of course you want to use high quality sea salt, not just regular table salt.
I also recommend using fresh oils and fats when cooking. One of the biggest problems when we go out to eat, especially at cheap restaurants, is that they use cheap, recycled oils. It not only tastes bad, it could even make you feel nauseous afterwards. When you are home, remember that olive oil really shouldn't be kept in an open bottle for longer than a year (at max). Keep it tightly closed, away from air, and use it as quickly as possible.
Cooking with alliums is also amazing, which includes garlic, onions, shallots, and scallions. They add wonderful flavor to your food and nutritional benefits as well.
Cooking with the seasons is another favorite of mine. If you eat produce when it's out of season, it tends to be more bitter, it tends to be more expensive, and it just doesn't taste as good. Try to learn about the seasonality of the produce that you're consuming, whether it's fruit or vegetables, and you'll find that you'll spend less money and things will taste better.
Cooking at the right temperature also makes a difference. For example, bring meat to room temperature before cooking. This ensures the meat cooks evenly throughout. Also, if you're cooking meat or fish, you don't want to put it on a cold pan. You want to heat up the pan first, always being mindful of the temperature when cooking with oils. High temperatures that cause the oil to start smoking or browning the food is not good for you. From a health perspective, it's carcinogenic. So I would try to minimize that as much as possible.
Herbs can make food absolutely fabulous and delicious. But keep in mind that hearty herbs should be added early in the process, such as rosemary, sage, oregano, and marjoram. You can cook them for a long time and they accentuate the flavor in the dish. Delicate herbs like parsley, basil, cilantro, chives, and mint can be put in at the end of the cooking process or simply sprinkled raw on top of a dish.
Definitely go for a variety of food flavors and textures. Remember, the point here is for you to eat nutritious and delicious food in the long run. I recommend trying one new recipe every single week. It's not that hard to do. Again, planning is very important.
In terms of variety, try a new vegetable you've never eaten before or a new cut of meat or fish that you've never had before. Think about the flavors and the textures, and not just having it be monochromatic. For example, I love making salads with all kinds of flavors and textures. I'll definitely put some dark leafy greens in there, I may add a little romaine as well, and arugula. But I'll also add cucumber for crunch, or some pumpkin seeds or toasted pine nuts to give it a different texture. Then I will add something briny like a pickle or hearts of palm or artichoke hearts- this adds different flavors.
I love pickling red onions in red wine vinegar. I soak the onions in red wine vinegar for about 20 minutes and then throw them in the salad. Oh, it's absolutely fabulous! You can also add fresh herbs to your salad such as mint, basil, or cilantro. It really is going to make it pop. Other ideas: olives, pickled beets, roasted red peppers. Think of the salad as an extravaganza of food and flavor and texture.
Spices are also really important. Not just cumin, cardamom, etc., but also think about actual cayenne pepper (things that are actually spicy). You can also blend salts with herbs- you can buy them or make them yourself! You can also blend oils or butter with salt or herbs or spices- this is quite tasty! As an example, you could melt some butter in a pan and add some nice sea salt, some chives, or some rosemary. When it cools you have this delicious butter! Another example, you can take garlic or onion and soak it in olive oil. And now the oil is infused with the flavor of the allium.
The other thing you can do is make pestos or things like chimichurri, which are really herbs blended with oil. There are a lot of options that you can look up. There are probably 1,000 different pesto recipes out there!
The most important thing is that you want to be able to look forward to your meals. If you are not looking forward to your meals, something needs to change and you should be proactive about it. Again, try out one new recipe a week. This will help you increase your repertoire of food and it will help you to use different ingredients that maybe you know you haven't tried before.
Enjoy your food!
