Health & Wellness: Eating Right Starts With The Right Equipment

An insider's guide to products that help you cook healthy

by Mary S. Moore, Founder/Owner The Cook’s Warehouse

September 2, 2008

H ealthy cooking and eating is easy, fun and delicious with the right tools! I think healthy cooking and eating is more enjoyable when you can go through the entire experience from going to the local farmer’s market to pick up what’s fresh to simple preparation with the equipment you need, to sitting down at the table to savor your masterpiece.
 
The trick is to buy great ingredients and cook them simply. Accent them with a little seasoning to let the natural flavors shine. I remember on a trip to Italy I had the best zucchini I had ever tasted. When I asked how it was prepared, the chef said sautéed with a little olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. The flavor was so rich and delicious I couldn’t believe the dish was that simple. He also added that the zucchini was from the farmer down the street – what a difference fresh makes!

So what tools do you need for healthy cooking? For the most part, you need the basics, a good cutting board, a sharp knife, prep bowls for your ingredients, a salad spinner for fresh lettuces and herbs, spatulas, spoons, tongs, measuring utensils  (or an adventurous spirit), some fun gadgets, great cookware and a desire to create. I’d like to highlight a few of my favorite new products and a few that you might not have considered.

The Nu-Wave Infrared Oven is a revolutionary new way to cook that uses conduction, convection and infrared heating to prepare your meal quickly and healthy. It also saves energy and time and keeps the kitchen cool. Infrared, radiant heat penetrates food from the inside out, leaving it moist and flavorful.
•    Conduction applies heat directly to the food, enhancing flavor, browning and roasting.
•    Convection circulates heat evenly around the food for faster cooking and uniform browning.

The benefits of this new system include:
•    No defrosting – you can cook a 10-pound solidly frozen turkey in 2.5 hours.
•    Healthy – no oils are needed and fats just drip away.
•    Time saving  – cooks up to 50 percent faster than a conventional oven.
•    Energy saving – uses 1,500 watts compared with the 3,500 watts used by a conventional oven (saves up to 85 percent more energy).
•    No ventilation needed  – no smoke is created, so no ventilation system is needed.
•    Easy cleanup – all parts, except the power head, are dishwasher safe and all splattered oil is self-contained.

The Nu-Wave Oven is the only countertop infrared oven to win the Chef’s Best award.

One of my favorite tools is the Nutrimill Grain Mill. The only way to improve freshly homemade bread is to mill your own flour. I know this sounds daunting, but it’s actually very easy with the Nutrimill Grain Mill. This machine allows you to have all the benefits of freshly milled grain in your own home. Commercially produced flour has had virtually all of the goodness obtained from grains removed. With a Nutrimill, you get all the benefits of the whole grain and can select the coarseness of the grind you want.

Some of the benefits of using the Nutrimill include:
•    Eating whole grains on a regular basis helps prevent cardiovascular problems and strokes.
•    Grains, beans and rice can be easily ground into fresh, flavorful flours.
•    Five pounds of fresh flour can be ground in less than five minutes.
•    Fresh-ground whole grain flour is much more nutritious than white flour.
•    Freshly ground flour maintains valuable fiber and is far more nutritious than commercial milling.
•    The taste of baked goods and breads is improved. 
•    Eating more whole grain products improves overall health.
•    Nutrimill adds to a variety to a menu by allowing you to grind a range of grains, including wheat (both hard and soft), oats, rice, spelt, dried pinto beans, popcorn, split peas, buckwheat, barley, rye, millet, sorghum, dried mung beans and soybeans. (It is not suitable for herbs or oil seeds like flax).

From the features above you can see that the possibilities are endless. There is no more healthy way to enjoy breads, corn tortillas and cakes. With all of the additives, preservatives and chemicals used in our food today, it is certainly inspiring to look for alternatives. My philosophy in cooking is less is more from ingredients to processing.

A wonderful, new, patented invention that allows you to cook with no oil is the Fissler Frypan with a honeycomb bottom. This honeycomb shape allows the juices from the meats to flow under the meat to help “fry” it without the use of oil. You can obtain a perfectly brown, crispy exterior from this incredible pan.

It also has:
•    An ergonomic stay-cool handle that doesn’t allow your hand to slip.
•    A precision, dripless pour rim.
•    A thick base to ensure heat absorption, conduction and storage.
•    Capability to work well on induction, a great energy saving method of cooking.

It would be impossible to leave out this next item. It is a small electrical appliance that I use every day, the Vita-Mix blender. This powerful machine can blend a velvety peach smoothie, prepare a hot soup, puree a pesto sauce, create fresh nut butters, or emulsify a perfect dressing in seconds. 

You will be amazed by the versatility and power of Vita-Mix appliances. Your Vita-Mix will perform a multitude of cooking and prep tasks, including: juicing whole foods, making frozen treats, cooking soup, grinding grain, and kneading bread.

 Each Vita-Mix Culinary Institute of America Professional Series machine includes the following features:
•    Removable lid plug allows ingredients to be added while processing.
•    Patented 64 oz. 2.0 liter container design creates a powerful vortex that forces ingredients up from the blade and back down the center to ensure all ingredients are properly processed.
•    Polycarbonate (the same material used in airplane windows) containers are virtually unbreakable and are lighter and more durable than glass.
•    Metal-to-metal (not rubber or plastic) container-to-base drive coupling for maximum durability and long life.
•    High-performance power motor propels the blade tip speed to 240 mph!
•    Spill-proof lid vents allow hot or cold food to expand and contract.
•    Ergonomically designed soft-touch handle for comfort and control.
•    Stainless steel, laser-cut blades explode molecules of food and ice inside the container to ensure consistently smooth results.
•    Variable speed control allows for a range of food prep tasks so that cooks can puree, grind, chop or blend a variety of foods at precisely the right speed.
•    Patented accelerator tool allows for processing thick, dense ingredients that would bring other appliances to a halt.
•    Recipes from the Master Chefs of the CIA recipe book
•    Easel-design gourmet recipe book with more than 300 recipes in an easy to follow, step-by-step format
•    Let’s Get Started instructional DVD with professional chef Michael Symon.
•    Seven-year warranty.

The Vita-Mix CIA Professional Series is available in three mirror-gloss finish colors: platinum, ruby and onyx. 
 
You can quickly see the endless and easy possibilities that this equipment allows. You will be preparing delicious, quick and healthy meals in no time.

I hope you will enjoy buying locally, cooking more healthfully and eating delicious, handcrafted meals. Remember to use more stock and less cream, more olive oil and less butter, more vegetables and fish and less red meat, more honey and less refined sugar, and more fresh ingredients and fewer that are processed. With these few tips you’ll be amazed at how good you feel.

Eat well, live well and enjoy life!