How to Cook Healthy Meals Faster

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By eHow Contributing Writer

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(13 Ratings)

Between your family, your career and basic everyday activities, every minute is precious. However, you don't want to compromise on cooking a healthy meal just because you're short on time. With a little bit of preparation, you'll be ready to cook healthy meals faster.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Stick with what you know. You'll cook faster if you don't have to pause to look over your recipe. Save your new recipes for a day when you have more time.
Step 2

Allow meat to thaw before you cook. Meat should be at room temperature for the quickest cooking time. Take advantage of your stovetop or microwave to warm up your meat. It's unsanitary to let your meat sit on the counter for several hours.
Step 3

Add salt after your vegetables are browned and caramelized. Adding salt before actually slows down the cooking process.
Step 4

Use your vegetables soon after purchase. The longer they sit in your refrigerator, the longer they take to cook.
Step 5

Prepare your vegetables for use before you store them. Washing your vegetables as soon as you get home from the grocery store is a huge timesaver when you're trying to cook healthy meals faster. You might also consider chopping your vegetables ahead of time to save even more time.
Step 6

Cut your vegetables and potatoes in smaller bites. Whether you're boiling potatoes or stir-frying vegetables, they'll cook faster when they're smaller.
Step 7

Make soup using pre-made stock, which you can purchase in any grocery store. This saves hours in the kitchen, but you still get the great taste of homemade soup.
Step 8

Cook in your microwave. Healthy foods sometimes cook in half the time when you use your microwave.
Step 9

Plan to use your leftovers. Whether you eat the same meal again, or use the same food and add a twist, leftovers can save you time when you're trying to cook healthy meals faster.

Comments

beyond said

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on 8/26/2008 The salt thing makes sense, I have noticed that things cook slower with salt...

Fike said

on 8/25/2008 I love point #5. And today if you have a "speed defrost" setting on your microwave, it does not make your meat "rubbery." We do this all the time. Nice article!