From cleaner cooking methods to nifty gadgets, eating nutritiously with healthy foods can be easy if you equip your kitchen with the right kit. Read on for some our favourite kitchen equipment for healthy eating.
Grill it
A George Foreman grill, everyone’s favourite lean mean fat-reducing grilling machine, is the healthy cook’s best friend. Removable, non-stick grill plates are able to cook meat without having to use any additional oils or fats, and the angled grill channels any fat and grease that is produced away from food.
Steam it
Unlike other cooking methods (such as boiling) steaming retains more nutrients and vitamins in food. Steamers are highly versatile—you can cook vegetables, rice, potatoes, pasta, couscous and even fish and shellfish in a steamer—as well as convenient: most steamers can fit up to nine litres of food. They’re also good space savers for your kitchen and they free up more room on your hob to cook other food, as vegetables and other sides can be steamed on the worktop.
Look out for steamers that have multiple compartments, so you can cook different foods simultaneously. Other features to focus on include a rice bowl (so you can steam rice, believe it or not) and a water gauge that will tell you how much water you have left in the steamer.
See also: How to Improve your Kitchen
Spiralise it
The latest faddy kitchen gadget is actually a very effective tool for creating healthier, low carbohydrate meals. A spiraliser is a device that can quickly turn vegetables and fruits into long strips or ‘noodles’. In particular, spiralised vegetables such as courgettes, carrots and squash make a good replacement for pasta.
Spiralisers are either handheld or electric. If you’re looking to save money and only want to create simple noodles then go for a handheld model. An electric spiraliser comes with more blades and attachments, which are useful if you want to make noodles of varying thickness using different vegetables. Other features to look for include a container space to catch the noodles, dishwasher safe parts and suction feet for horizontal spiralisers, as these have a tendency to slip on work surfaces.
Dry it
Finding healthy snacks can be challenging and expensive, but not if you have a food dehydrator. Dehydration is a method of food preservation where moisture is removed from food, extending shelf life. Dehydrated foods can be eaten dried or rehydrated for later use, and for the healthy cook they’re great for snacks, letting you create tasty treats such as dried fruit slices and vegetable crisps. When choosing, look for a model that has a good, even distribution of heat and air flow, as that will ensure your food is dehydrated properly.
Best of The Rest
When it comes to small kitchen gadgets it can be hard to separate the useful from the useless (mushroom slicers, for example) but the following gadgets will make healthy cooking easier for you.
Using an oil mister to lightly spray oil over your food will reduce your calorie intake. You can also customise your favourite oils by infusing them with different ingredients such as herbs and chillies. While many of you will probably own a standard blender, a smaller immersion blender will let you whip up healthy smoothies and soups directly in the pot or glass.
When it comes to cutting down on salt, gadgets such as herb mills, which finely chop herbs for you, and spice grinders are an easy way to add extra flavour to a dish. Finally, if you’re hankering after some fried food then try using an air fryer, which cooks food by circulating hot air very rapidly around ingredients, using much less oil than a traditional deep fat fryer.
Read more on Celebrity Angels about the best cookery courses in the UK for healthy cooking.
