Nutritional health is achieved through the therapeutic use of whole foods, safe culinary preparation, and understanding the metabolic impacts of specific dietary frameworks and ingredients.
The right tools can make the difference between a passable meal and one that's truly memorable. In this age of extreme specialization, where your average cooking store carries four versions of every tool and thousands more are available on the Internet, it's not easy to choose the right tool for the right job.
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When you want to cook dinner for one or two people, turning on your full-sized oven isn't always practical. Large ovens use lots of energy, which can increase your energy bill as well as heat up your house during the warmer months. Fortunately, a toaster oven can do a lot more than make toast.
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Chicken wings are the ultimate comfort food. Savory chicken draped in spicy-sweet sauce is the perfect dish for a family meal or a casual party. Unfortunately, fried chicken wings are high in both fat and calories, but don't worry. You don't need a deep fryer to make chicken wings.
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Grilled vegetables are a delicious side for BBQ chicken, lean beef burgers, kabobs or other light summer dishes. However, if you're craving grilled food and the weather isn't cooperating, don't worry.
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Dry white wine is a classic ingredient in the cuisines of wine-growing regions such as Italy, France, and other warm areas of Europe. However, if you can't -- or choose not to -- consume alcohol, or if you're out of dry white wine, don't worry. You can still make just about every recipe that calls for dry white wine.
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Eggs are one of nature's most nutritious foods, and one of the major sources of food-borne illness. Salmonella bacteria can live on the inside and the outside of raw eggs, which is why the CDC recommends cooking all raw eggs until both the yolk and the white are firm.
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If you've been to the fish counter of a large supermarket recently, you've probably seen fish you hadn't heard of before, such as Swai. Swai, according to Tightwad Todd of Consumer Reports is similar to catfish.
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Roughly 1/3 of the meat Americans consume is beef, and if you've got a nice steak dinner planned, a failed thawing process doesn't have to ruin it. Although cooking a fully frozen steak isn't practical, with a few tips, you can cook a steak that remains slightly frozen.
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Four million Americans suffer from frequent constipation, and this digestive disorder accounts for 2.5 million doctor visits a year, according to the National Institutes of Health.
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Buttermilk is available in almost every dairy case in every supermarket, but it remains tragically unappreciated. Too sour for use on cereal or in your morning coffee, buttermilk can take your baked goods from "good" to "great" or from "great" to "extraordinary," adding not just flavor but improving texture and color.
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Pollock fillets are an inexpensive, environmentally sound alternative to white fish such as cod and haddock. Recommended by the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program, pollock fillets -- like almost all white fish -- are too delicate to cook using low-fat methods such as broiling or grilling.
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Olive oil, one of the healthiest fats, because it can help lower total cholesterol, LDL -- or bad -- cholesterol, and even help control Type II diabetes. However, it is indeed possible to get too much of a good thing.
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If you've been to a home and garden store recently, you've probably seen silicone baking sets. Available in a wide range of sizes and colors, these sets are popular due to their nonstick nature and versatility. However, that doesn't mean they are for everyone.
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As much as you might want to, sometimes there just isn't time to make frosting from scratch. If you're decorating a cake for a birthday or making cupcakes for you child's class, you don't have to settle for the muted flavor of canned chocolate frosting.
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Shopping for pork can be confusing, especially when you're trying to figure out the difference between hams and cured pork shoulders. Though they come from different parts of the animal, they are sometimes sold under similar names. Not to worry.
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Green tea is the second most popular beverage in the world, second only to water, and has been consumed for at least 5,000 years, according to the University of Maryland. Add some citrus, such as lemon or lime juice, and you'll make one of the world's healthiest beverages even healthier.
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Make-ahead dishes can be the busy cook's salvation. Cookbooks often focus on main dishes, such as meat or poultry, but sometimes neglect vegetable side dishes. If you're tired of boring, microwave-steamed frozen veggies, or worse, canned vegetables, you're in luck.
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The perfectly-cooked steak is many people's idea of the ultimate comfort food. Looking to avoid the expense and hassle of going out to a steakhouse, home cooks -- with varying degrees of success -- attempt to create the perfect steak at home. If you've been frustrated with cooking steak, look to your cupboard.
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Few things are more frustrating than putting time and energy into a recipe only to have it turn out badly. While low-quality ingredients, the wrong heat setting and poor technique can each befoul a perfect dish, when you're cooking with tomatoes, the pan you choose counts, too.
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Casseroles are easy to make ahead of time and give you a hot meal on busy weeknights when you don't have time to cook. It's therefore unfortunate that both cooking and not cooking broccoli -- a classic casserole ingredient -- can ruin the final dish. If you're confused about broccoli, fear not.
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