Cooking slumps are very easy to get into. When you have a busy life or fussy eaters, it can be easy to get into the habit of cooking the same foods week in week out. It is not surprising that after a while, these foods start to get boring. However, just because they get boring, doesn’t mean that you need to stop eating them. You could change your cooking methods, and see if this changes how the food tastes and feels. There are many different ways to cook different types of foods, each leaving you with varying results. Below are some different methods that you could try:
Try steaming instead of boiling
Many of us learn to boil veg to ensure that it is cooked, but this may not be the best way to cook your vegetables. Steaming your vegetables helps them to cook without having actually to put them into the boiling water. You can buy a separate steamer or a cover that goes over your regular saucepan.
Steaming vegetables can leave you with a bright, crisper vegetable that has a lot more flavour than when you boil them. This is because when you boil veg, some of the flavour is transferred to the water, and boiling can also make them a bit soggier.
An added bonus of steaming is that you may end up with veg that has more nutrients because it stays in the vegetable rather than escaping into the water. You can also steam some meats and fish, so keep an eye out for some great salmon recipes too.
Use a water bath
A water bath is not normally something that you see in a domestic kitchen, but professional kitchens use water baths to cook meat. Using a water bath will result in a more consistent cook so that you won’t have to worry if the joint of meat that you bought is going to work out well or go tough. It can even result in the meat being left more tender and flavourful than any other way that you can cook it, even with cheaper cuts that you would find challenging to cook nicely any other way.
Use a slow cooker
Slow cookers are a great way to cook your regular foods slightly differently and are great for cooking up something that will keep you warm in the winter. They are great because you can bung all your ingredients into the pot in the morning and let it cook all day. Once you come back to it in time for your evening meal, everything will be ready to go. Slow cookers are great for ensuring that meat is tender and falls apart, and they are also brilliant at bringing out the flavour in dishes such as casseroles. You can cook stews and soups, but you can also use it for things like chilli and spaghetti bolognese, or even try tater tot breakfast casserole.
Roast things
Roasting vegetables and meats can give them a different flavour than if they are cooked in another way. The outside of whatever you are cooking will usually brown and get crispy, but the inside will still be beautiful and soft. The flavour of roasted food can sometimes seem sweeter because roasting brings out the natural sugars in the food, which is what can give your meat and vegetables a more unique, deep flavour.
