Healthy cooking doesn't have to be difficult

Story by Cathy Spaulding

With a little searing and seasoning, Indian Capital Technology Center culinary arts instructor Jeff Howard showed his students healthy ways to prepare chicken legs.

"Chicken is relatively healthy," Howard said. "It's low fat, it has protein. But how do we usually prepare it? We fry it, and we usually put breading on it. So we add fat and carbohydrates."

This time, however, Howard sprinkled the legs with pepper and salt. He seared two in a frying pan with a small amount of olive oil. He grilled two others in a panini press before baking them. He sprinkled the legs with pepper and kosher salt.

"Because there's skin all the way around them, I'm going to start with the heavier seasoned side," he said while laying the drumsticks in the pan. "I don't have hardly anything in there. All I'm going to do is season this to the point it sears all the way around. Use olive oil, sear and bake."

Healthy cooking is one path to healthy eating. It's one of many aspects of cooking Howard teaches his students.

Howard and students recently critiqued a healthy recipe submitted to the Muskogee Phoenix. The recipe included canned beans, which students said could be high in sodium. The recipe also featured an onion and avocado topping.

"Avocados are good items to put on these recipes, especially a vegan recipe, because avocados are going to add two different things: Fat and protein," Howard said. "In general, the recipe would have a relatively low fat content, but it lacks any seasoning besides the residual com- ing from the canned items and the chili powder. There is not any salt or pepper. Also, in most chili spices there is also cumin, coriander, Garlic powder, onion powder and possibly cayenne for spice."

He said a healthier recipe would have used fresh beans, tomatoes and seasonings or herbs.

"Canned products tend to have a high amount of sodium for preservatives," he said. "Also, the onion added at the end for garnish might be better added at the beginning for aromatics and flavor. It also, may not be 'Vegan' as chili beans sometimes have the addition of animal fat."

Fats, or lipids, and proteins are among six categories of nutrients. Others include carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and water. All categories are important in proper balance, Howard said.

"If we don't intake enough (of a nutrient), then our bodies are going to find it," he said. But, "you can overdose on water, you can overdose on vitamins and minerals. So we have to make sure we watch our intake in all these areas. We talk about a balanced diet."

Vegan Chili

Claremore resident Jennifer Adams submitted this vegan chili recipe to the Muskogee phoenix.

» 1 cup uncooked lentils

» 2 cups vegetable broth

» 2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce

» 1 can ro-tel diced tomatoes

» 1 can chili beans

» 3 tablespoons chili powder

» 2 cloves garlic

Cook lentils in broth for about 10 minutes and then add remaining ingredients. You can also add all ingredients and slow cook on low for four to six hours hours. Serve with diced onions and avocados.

Many foods are inflammatory, which could cause a person to be overweight.

"Anything with salt in it is an inflammatory item," he said. "Salt encourages water retention. Dairy is a huge inflammatory item. Red meats."

Non-inflammatory items include spices, fresh honey, vegetables, fruit, white meat, and most seafood, he said.

Nutrition goes beyond what people eat.

"When we talk about nutrition in food itself, somebody says vegetables or fruits, those are always nutritious, right? Not necessarily," he said. "Green beans are better than eating a bunch of fried food, but canned or processed products tend to have a lot of salt and sodium,

LEFt: Herbs such as parsley, and healthy fats such as olive oil can be nutritious aids in cooking.

BELoW: An array of herbs and spices can add flavor to foods without adding a lot of calories or fat. (CATHY and sodium is not good from the standpoint of someone needing to lower their salt intake or trying to lose weight."

Packaging and preparation also can affect nutritional value, he said.

"A lot of people think shopping for healthy food is more expensive than shopping for processed food. That's not necessarily true," Howard said. "It depends on what you buy. It depends on whether you buy fresh or frozen. It really depends, especially if you don't have time and you're just going to get fast food."

Shoppers have to know what they're looking for, he said.

"We live in a very sparse fresh food market," he said. "If you're in a big city, you have a lot more to shop for. I live in Tulsa, so I have Sprouts and Aldi's, Reasor's, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's. We have lots of different options. Here in Muskogee and in our smaller outlying cities you don't have a lot of options, so you have to pick and choose. You have to look and see what those options are."

Fresh food options in Muskogee include supermarkets, Cattleman's Fine Meats, Watson's Farms, Arnold Fruit Co., and seasonal farmers' markets in Muskogee, Wagoner and other area communities. Howard advised seeking other sources, as well.

"If I've got a friend down the street who grows their own corn. That corn is going to be better than buying fresh corn in a grocery store because you don't know how old it (grocery corn) is, where it's been," he said. "Sometimes Walmart has a better product than Aldi's or Trader Joe's because they are able to buy stuff in volume. But, for the most part, those smaller specialty stores are going to have a better buy because they're not trying to buy something in bulk."

Buying produce in season also helps, he said.

"During the peach festival, we're buying peaches because they're ripe, they're local and they're the best 'right now'," he said.