Who said healthy foods have to be bland and boring? It is possible to get the best of both worlds. Healthy options can taste great and still nourish your body. Anyone who believes that healthy foods can never taste good does not know how to cook and season them correctly to enjoy their natural taste. Here are a few ways to make healthy food taste nice and make you more likely to enjoy indulging:
Roast your vegetables
The taste of super healthy vegetables can be a little repulsive if consumed straight raw or just steamed. One way to eat your veggies and enjoy their taste is by roasting them. Roasted vegetables taste a lot better. You will love every bite and at the same time benefit from their rich nutritional makeup.
Roasting vegetables mellows and balances out their less than pleasant taste. The next time you are unsure how to prepare your beets, roughly chop them. Then get a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. Finally, bake them in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for close to half an hour. You can serve them with mustard when they are ready. All you need is a grill, and you are ready to roast away.
Make a blended salt mixture to flavor your meals with
Blended salts are a great way to add complex taste to healthy foods. The taste of the food and the salt will complement each other beautifully. Make a salt blend by adding a ground spice or herb to a base salt.
You can choose to add more life to stale spices by toasting them in a dry pan before adding them to the salt. While tiny pinches of salt do you no harm, overdoing it could negatively impact your health. Resist the urge to put too much salt to compensate for the low-fat content of your meals. If you notice that you tend to overuse salt, you might want to cut back a bit.
Read ingredient labels when you buy things from the store to know how much sodium is in the products. If your food feels bland without salt, consider adding fresh herbs and freshly ground spices.
Add vinegar or lemon
Acidic foods activate sour taste buds instantly. They, therefore, are perfect for brightening an otherwise blah meal. Use them sparingly as they can overpower a dish very quickly. Anytime you feel like your food is calling for something extra, but you do not want to reach for salt or unhealthy sauces, try vinegar or lemon juice. Vinegar or lemon juice makes an otherwise uneventful meal feel refreshing. If the sour taste is too overpowering, consider adding some salt. Salt has properties that soften the sourness in a recipe hence enhancing sweetness.
Enhance the flavor of your fruits
If fruits seem boring to you in their natural state, there are several ways to enhance their flavor. First, you need to buy seasonal fruits to get them fresh. Alternatively, you could get them from the frozen fruits section in your local store. Enhance that by sprinkling sweet spices like nutmeg, clove or cinnamon.
You could also drizzle some drops of balsamic vinegar on your fruits. Mix your fruits and make a fruit salad. The visual appeal of that will be well worth it. It will play off each other more beautifully. Cutting your fruits and dipping them in yoghurt makes for a great snacking option too.
Add spices and herbs
The easiest way to add oomph to your healthy meals is by using herbs and spices. There are several exciting ranges and aromas that different spices have to offer. If you want to spice things up, you could visit an Indian spice stall and get something spicy. Visit the local supermarket and sample their array of seasonings from turmeric, garam masala, thyme, ginger etc. You can also make your custom spice mix using your favorite herbs and spices.
That way, you will always have something ready to season your food at any time. With spices, do not just stick to your tried-and-true favorites only. Experiment with other different tastes like Moroccan spices. You will be shocked at the beautiful results you get from your experiment. Knowing what spices to pair with your protein and vegetables will transform all your meals into spectacular feasts. You can browse online to find out which herbs and spices go well with which foods.
Get fresh supplies
Fresh fruits and vegetables have a good taste. Home-grown vegetables that come straight from the garden to the plate are quite tasty since they have not lost any flavors during transportation and storage. If you do not have a garden, purchase vegetables from local farmers in your area.
You will see a remarkable taste difference. Purchase fresh lean cuts of meat or opt for dried meats that are healthy and bursting with flavors. You will see a significant difference when you consume fresh, in season and locally farmed veggies. The vitamin and mineral content you will get from the fresh vegetables will also be higher.
Marinate to enhance food flavors
Marinating your meats will enhance the flavor of your meats by a significant factor. Marinate your chicken, steak or fish for some hours before cooking. Make a healthy marinade and let that infuse into the meat. Your meat will turn out tender and flavorful. Combine a liquid component with a few herbs and spices to make your marinade.
Do not lock out all the fun
Eating healthy foods does not mean that you have to say adieu to all bits of goodness. You may feel miserable if you get rid of all foods with unhealthy characteristics. Think of cheese, butter, heavy cream and other goodies you love. You can have a little bit of both. Make healthy food taste great by adding a few tasty foods on top. Moderation is the key to life. But ensure that the ratio favours the healthy options more.
Wrapping up
Sometimes it is best to let the natural taste of healthy flavors shine through. Give them a chance without having to mast their authenticity with excessive salt or heavy sauces. You will soon find them to be yummier than ever.
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