5 Best Ways to Cook Food

If you’re trying to cut back on your microwave use, there is no reason you need to subsist on raw cauliflower or kale. Joy Feldman, NC, an integrative holistic-health nutritional consultant and health coach, provides her ranking of the healthiest and most flavorful cooking methods.

1. Steaming
Not only does steaming preserve flavor, aroma, vitamins and antioxidants, it also decreases the volume of vegetables so you can eat more. USDA researchers discovered that lightly steaming greens such as collards and broccoli increases their ability to bind to bile acids more than if consumed raw. With lower levels of circulating bile acids in the blood, the body uses cholesterol to make more bile, which in turn lowers cholesterol numbers and may confer heart-health benefits. Multistack electric steamers let you cook several items at once and are more energy efficient than stovetop steaming.

Creamy Broccoli Soup
Organic Pumpkin Pie

2. Stir-frying
The intense heat from the stovetop minimizes nutrient loss and helps maintain vegetable texture and color. High-quality woks are great for rapid, even heating at high temperatures, but you can also use a large, heavy, flat-bottom frying pan for stir-frying just about anything.

Watercress-Walnut Stir-Fry
Sugar-Snap Stir-Fry

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Read more: Food, Health

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Margaret F.

1:23PM PST on Feb 3, 2012

Thank-you for the informative article.

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Susan A.

5:15PM PST on Feb 2, 2012

Thanks for the clear list of the best usage of the different cooking methods...I do use microwave more than I used to because I understood it saved energy....

Dave C.

10:40AM PST on Feb 2, 2012

thanks....

Sue H.

9:35AM PST on Feb 2, 2012

Not sure what happend with the blurb below??
Good reminders concerning our cooking habits, thanks for posting.

9:33AM PST on Feb 2, 2012

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Shelly P.

12:51AM PST on Feb 2, 2012

The style of cooking I usually do is to saute!!....(alot French!)...I am not taking any more polls as mine never registers!...Care2, what has happened!?!....Sincerely, Please handle things, Maynards!!...( I love Care2, but "my oh my!"..........0

Sarah M.

4:58PM PST on Jan 22, 2012

thanks

Andrea A.

10:50AM PST on Jan 17, 2012

Thanks.

Larry D. G.

1:56PM PST on Jan 16, 2012

Thanks for all the good info....Larry G

Donna H.

6:01PM PST on Jan 15, 2012

Great article. Thanks.