Health Library

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​Why Cook?

• To create healthier dishes
• Allows you to choose healthier ingredients (e.g lean meat/chicken or more vegetables)
• Allows you to control the amount of oil/fat and condiments added to foods (e.g sugar, salt, sauces)
• More affordable to buy groceries in bulk and share cooked meals with family/friends instead of eating out

How Can You Make Cooking Healthier?

Use healthier cooking methods:

1. Grill

• Place food on a grill pan or grate to cook food over heat (e.g stove, charcoal fire)
• Minimal to no oil needed
• Use for cooking meat, chicken, fish and vegetables

2. Steam

• Helps to preserve nutrients so that food stays nutritious
• Place food in a colander or pan over boiling water and cover
• No oil required
• Use for cooking meat/chicken, fish, eggs, vegetables, rice, idli

3. Microwave

• Uses radiation to create heat to cook food
• Use microwave-safe bowls or plates and follow microwave instructions for heat settings and cooking time
• Minimal or no oil needed
• Use for cooking seasoned chicken/meat, vegetables, eggs or rice

4. Boil

• Place food in a pot and cook in boiling water over heat
• No oil required
• Use for making soups/curry with meat/chicken, seafood, fish, vegetables

5. Stir-Fry

• Food is cooked in a frying pan directly over heat
• Quick way of cooking a variety of vegetables and meat or both at the same time
• Use little oil
• Use for cooking, meat/chicken, seafood, fish, vegetables, rice, noodles

Tips to Prepare Healthier Meals

• Choose unsaturated oils (e.g canola oil, sunflower oil) for cooking
• Remove skin/fats from meat and poultry
• Use less oil for stir-frying
• Avoid using butter or ghee in cooking
• Replace full fat dairy with low fat or skim alternatives
• Skim off layer or oil or solidified fat on curries/gravies before serving
• Substitute red meat with fish, eggs, lentils, beans, peas on some days of the week