Healthy hints from the Hopewood kitchen
These will help kick-start your natural healthy living plan!
- The best way to reduce the fat content in your cooking is to use water in place of oil when stir frying or sautéing vegetables. You’ll be surprised to find very little difference in the flavour!
- Another great way to reduce fat is to use baking paper, instead of oil or butter, to grease your trays. Baking paper should be cut large enough to line the base and sides of the tray and then be tucked over to surround the food and create a seal. This helps retain moisture, speeds cooking time and prevents food from drying out.
- To cut down on fat, reduce the amount of oil in salad dressing and use dressings sparingly.
- Another way to reduce spreadable fats is to use some mild hommus (garlic reduced), or tahini, as a substitute for butter or margarine.
- Tamari is a low salt variety of naturally fermented soy sauce. Low salt soy sauce could be used to substitute for Tamari.
- To reduce the sugar content in dried fruits, soak them in water overnight, remove the water and replace with fresh water. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
- Use a small amount of lemon or orange juice to prevent discolouration of vegetables.
- Soak leftover tofu in fresh water in a sealed container in the refrigerator. To keep the tofu fresh you must change the water every day.
- If oil is used, we recommend that cold pressed virgin olive oil be used.
- When stir frying with oil, it is possible to eliminate ‘spitting’ and reduce the risk of overheating. Simply place 2 tablespoons of water in the pan and heat this through before adding oil and vegetables.
