1. Batch Cook Single Ingredients for Fast Meals All Week Long

My most important kitchen shortcut is batch cooking on the weekend, which sets you up for success during the week. Focus on single key ingredients or condiments, such as grains, beans, roasted vegetables, and sauces that can stretch through a few different meals. Having some of these ready-made means you won’t be scurrying to put together a meal.

For example, make a huge pot of beans on Sunday. During the week, this can turn into multiple meals, such as:

• Beans and rice
• Soup with beans
• Salad with beans
• Bean spread/dip

You can do the same thing by whipping up a triple batch of grains, such as brown rice or quinoa, over the weekend. Then during the week, you can use them in various ways. Here are some examples:

• Add them to salads
• Reheat them with some plant milk to make a breakfast porridge
• Heap a variety of stir-fried vegetables over them for a quick rainbow veggie bowl
• Mix them with beans, potatoes, and spices to make veggie burgers

While you’re batch cooking your single ingredient, cut up whatever raw veggies you have in your fridge. That way, you will you be able to whip up that salad or stir-fry in five minutes later in the week. You can also do this as soon as you come home from the market.

(RELATED: A Top Chef’s Healthy Cooking Tips That Every Home Cook Needs to Know)

2. Batch Cook Favorite Dishes

If you’re making a recipe, make enough for ten people and then freeze half of it. That way, even if you’re a family of five, you will have another meal ready to go for later in the week. This works best with time-consuming recipes that you already like.

3. Plan Meals Ahead

To sustain healthier eating, do a little advance planning. Batch cooking is one way to do it. Another way is to plan out some of the dishes you will make before you go grocery shopping. Most people shop with no idea of what they will be making. If you build your grocery list around some of the actual meals you are planning, you will be more organized and effective … and you won’t find yourself at a loss for what to make for dinner every night or wasting time running back to the store.

Chad Sarno is the co-lead chef for the Forks Over Knives Online Cooking Course, a comprehensive three-month class on whole-food, plant-based cooking.

The post These Three Kitchen Shortcuts Will Change the Way You Cook appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Less Salt and Fat … Same Taste?

Some substitutions are easy, such as swapping meat for beans in a hearty stew, but other modifications require a little more finesse, so you don’t give up flavor in the process.

Sarno says, “When modifying recipes, the most common mistake people make is thinking they can remove the oil and salt and then just follow the rest of the instructions. Then, of course, they’re disappointed in the finished product. When modifying a dish, you need to look at the recipe as a whole and figure out how to draw more flavors out of the ingredients without the added oil and salt. To build flavor, it’s important to adjust both your techniques and your ingredients.”

Chad Sarno’s Tips for Healthier Cooking:

1. Look for Alternative Cooking Techniques
   “If you have removed oil (or fat) and most of the salt from a dish, then look for ways to build healthy flavor. For example, if a recipe calls for vegetables steamed in a dish, you can roast or grill them instead. If the instructions say to sauté some onions, you can cook them longer and caramelize them in small amounts of vegetable stock or wine to build flavor. You can also reduce sauces to concentrate and intensify them.” (Editor’s note: On this diet, salt is not used during preparation as it is in traditional cooking. It can sometimes be added at the end of cooking.)

2. Adjust Spices and Boost Herbs
   “Rely on herbs and spices to boost the flavor of your dishes. If a recipe calls for dried herbs, then try to use fresh instead. If it calls for seeds or spices, toast them first to bring out more flavor. You can also grind your spices for bolder flavors. Brighten a dish with a squeeze of citrus at the end. But most important, if you are using fresh herbs or other flavor-building ingredients, use greater quantities to elevate the overall flavor of the dish than you would if you were using salt.”

Visit us here for more information on the Forks Over Knives Online Cooking Course.

The below how-to video for Roasted Garlic & Onion Buttah is part of the FOK cooking course, and the “buttah” will help to boost the flavor in any dish. You can add it to sauces, soups, stews, beans, and bread, and a little will go a long way.

• 1/4 cup raw garlic, peeled
• 2 cups shallot or white onion, peeled and cubed
• 2 to 3 cups vegetable stock
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary or fresh thyme
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked in 3 to 4 cups of warm water until softened, then drained
• 1/4 cup non–dairy milk

The post A Top Chef’s Healthy Cooking Tips That Every Home Cook Needs to Know appeared first on Forks Over Knives.