9 Healthy Cooking Tips and Recipes

• Healthy tip# 1:  Heating lycopene-rich tomatoes creates a chemical change that makes the heart-healthy nutrient much easier for your body to absorb.  Healthy Recipe: Tomato Basil Soup

• Healthy Tip #2: Let crushed garlic stand for about 10 to 15 minutes before adding it to a hot pan. High temperatures destroy allinase, garlic’s most important cancer- fighting and immune boosting enzyme.  By letting it stand, this allows the garlic to generate compounds that blunt the damaging effects of heat.  Healthy Recipe: Stuffed Eggplant

• Healthy Tip #3: Increase iron by cooking acidic foods, such as tomatoes, apples or lemons, in a cast-iron pot or skillet. You can also easily pair these acidic foods with a spinach salad and by doing this you will absorb more than 2000% more energy boosting iron.Healthy Recipe: Spinach Salad

• Healthy Tip #4: Increase the amount of fat-soluble vitamins, such as A, E, and K, by adding avocados, olive oil, nuts, olives and red, green, orange, and yellow fruits and veggies.  These nutrients can boost vision, improve immunity, and protect against stroke and osteoporosis.  Healthy Recipe: Avocado, Bean and Tomato Dip

• Healthy Tip #5: If you’re preparing homemade chicken soup, it’s smart to add a hint of lemon juice, vinegar or tomato to the mix.  Pairing a slightly acidic broth with on the bone chicken can up the soups calcium content by 64%.  Healthy Recipe: Hearty Chicken Soup

• Healthy Tip #6: The high heat needed to grill meats can cause carcinogenic compounds called heterocyclic amines (HCAs), but marinating them can help.  By marinating the meat, it develops 99% fewer HCAs after 20 minutes of grilling compared to un-marinated meats.  Healthy Recipe: Garlic and Rosemary Chicken

• Healthy Tip #7:  When you’re slicing and dicing fresh produce, cut large pieces.  A larger cut allows you to hold on to more vitamin C, which helps boost immunity.  Healthy Recipe: Greek Salad

• Healthy Tip #8: Save yourself some time-and some key nutrients- by not peeling eggplants, apples, potatoes, and other produce before using.  The peel itself is a natural barrier against nutrient loss, and many vitamins and minerals are found in the outer skin or just below it.  Healthy Recipe: Baked Fish with Roasted Vegetables

• Healthy Tip #9: Dressing your salad with antioxidant rich herbs can more than double its cancer fighting punch.  Spices such as ginger and cumin also up the antioxidant quotient.  Healthy Recipe: Cabbage with Ginger and Cumin