Mastering the kitchen involves understanding healthy fat profiles, variety-specific grain preparation, and safe food handling techniques.
Cooking frozen fish is safe, but the results don't always turn out quite as well as when you cook defrosted fillets. The exterior of frozen fish often overcooks before the inside fully thaws and cooks through, which is a particular concern with dry-heat methods like grilling or pan searing.
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Mackerel is one example of the fatty fish the American Heart Association recommends eating two or more times per week. It provides protein, unsaturated fats and other nutrients with fewer calories and less saturated fat and cholesterol than red meats.
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Whole-grain pasta isn't a particularly low-calorie food. That doesn't mean it can't be a healthy part of your weight-loss efforts. Pastas made from whole grains provide complex carbohydrates, insoluble fiber and other nutrients.
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How to make a tough cut of beef more palatable is an age-old culinary conundrum. Round, chuck and other tough steaks are often tenderized via pounding with a mallet or cubing machine. Pounding the meat into a thin cutlet tenderizes it and leaves square imprints on the surface -- hence the name "cube steak."
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A convection oven uses a top and a bottom heat source, as well as fans to circulate the heated air inside the cooking chamber. This prevents the "hot spots" found in regular ovens and provides more even cooking. Convection ovens cook most foods 10 to 30 percent faster, too.
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Garlic can enhance all sorts of dishes and has some health benefits. A garlic-rich diet helps boost your body's production of antioxidant compounds and may lower the risk of heart disease and certain cancers, notes "The New York Times." Roasting garlic tempers its intense taste and makes it readily spreadable.
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The broiler cooks fish as fast as a grill, and just as effectively develops a crisp exterior while maintaining succulent flesh underneath. Broiling is the indoor version of grilling, using the same method of indirect dry heat, only with the heat source located above the fish, rather than below.
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Peanut oil contains heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. It has no trans fat or cholesterol, and little saturated fat. Peanut oil is a favored fat for deep-frying, panfrying and searing because of its high smoke point and resistance to heat damage.
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Beans are packed with fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals with no saturated or trans fat. When dried, heart-healthy legumes are a convenience item for long-term storage in your pantry.
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Boneless chicken breast provides a cost-effective, lower calorie, lower saturated fat alternative to red meats. You can safely cook frozen chicken on the stove or in the oven, but the meat may cook unevenly, and it also takes longer.
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Canned red kidney beans make a nutritious convenience item. They have a shelf life of at least two to three years, and they spare you the hassle of soaking dried beans to rehydrate them; they're also pre-cooked, so they only need to be warmed through. Such bean can be eaten cold dishes such as salads.
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Italian sausage is a versatile meat that can be used in a variety of dishes for any meal of the day. Store fresh Italian sausage in the refrigerator before and after cooking, and eat it within four days after cooking. You can freeze Italian sausage if you're not using it by its expiration date.
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Ground beef with onion is a flavorful combination called for in a number of recipes. Sometimes -- as with sloppy Joes or beef casseroles -- you can just toss diced onion into the pan with the meat while you cook it. This doesn't work for solid preparations, though, such as meatloaves, meatballs and hamburgers.
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