You don’t need a lot of equipment for cooking and eating healthy, but a few things just make it easier.
Non-stick pots and pans
Healthy cooking means using as few oils and fats as possible. To make sure you don’t use too much, use non-stick pots and pans. You can get a good set of coated frying pans and pots. However, it is better to use seasoned cast iron pots and pans and a seasoned wok.
Cutting boards
Ideally, you should have a separate cutting board for meat, another for fish, and another for fruits and vegetables. This way, you’ll prevent bacterial cross-contamination of your food. You can buy plastic cutting boards that are color-coded or have labels for the different foods you can use them for. You can also just buy them individually.
High quality knife set
Even if you have a food processor, there’s nothing better than a high-quality knife set. You can buy a complete set of kitchen knives. If you buy your knives individually, here are some types that are extremely helpful.
- A chef’s knife – This is your all-around knife and perhaps the one you’ll use the most. You can use a chef’s knife for chopping, slicing, and mincing
- A paring knife – You may already have a vegetable and fruit peeler on hand, but you should still get a small paring knife for those hard-to-reach nooks and crannies
- Santoku knife – The shape of this knife is ideal for slicing, chopping and cutting vegetables, which you’ll be doing a lot of in healthy cooking.
Measuring cup and spoon
When you cook healthy, you’ll also measure your portions carefully. When you’re cooking from healthy recipes, you’ll need high-quality measuring cups and spoons to make sure you’re using the right amounts of ingredients.
Steamer
Many healthy recipes call for the use of a steamer. Steamed fish and vegetables, dumplings and most dim sum recipes are steamed. Whether you get an electric steamer or a bamboo steamer that you hold over a pot of boiling water, the fact that you have a steamer is already good for you.
Conclusion Of course, there are many more tools that are useful to cook healthy. Just check with each tool to see if you really need it. Once you get the hang of how to cook healthy, you’ll know which tools you really need.