Cooking 101

Some cooking advice that will help beginners to make great meals with zero experience. Nobody taught me how to cook but it somehow tastes good so here are some things that I find helpful. Also some amazingly simple recipes with advice and photos (always without filter because you deserve the reality). Mostly healthy, always delicious! Message me for more info or if you have more advice for me to post! I will also take suggestions for new recipes and try them before posting them. Tags: sauce, snacks, replaceable, healthy, salad, drinks, recipe.

[easycooking101]

Cooking Advice #10

When you're making noodles, rice, sauce, or anything else you need boiling water for, you can pre-boil it in your water kettle. It's usually quicker than boiling it directly in the pot. To speed it up even more, put the pot onto the stove and heat just a bit water (about 0.5-1 cm or .2-.4 inch) while boiling the rest in the water kettle. That'll ensure that the water won't cool down because of cold metal and, depending on the kind of stove you have, you won't waste time for the stove to heat up.

[easycooking101]

Cooking Advice #9

Don't make canned veggies your enemy. They're not. Canned vegetables like kidney beans, corn or tomatoes are still healthy and taste great.

The problem are canned meals with all their additives and artificial flavors or colors. They also usually contain too much salt (which is unhealthy. Not salt, just too much of it) and hidden sugar.

Just the vegetables are fine, although some (eg peas) look and taste clearly different from fresh or frozen ones. But that still makes them okay to use in sauces or other meals!

[easycooking101]

Recipe #1

A classic for the start: Pasta Bolognese! Quick, simple, healthy and everyone loves some good old childhood memories.

250-300g Noodles

500g Minced Beef

2-3 Onions

400g (1 can) Tomatoes

2-3 Carrots

Garlic

Salt

Cayenne Pepper

Herbs (Parsley, Oregano, Basil)

Butter or Oil

Optional:

Creme Fraiche

Grana Padano (or other cheese)

Heat the oil in a large pan. Cut the onions and put about half an onion aside for later. Gently roast the rest of them, add the meat once they start to get translucent. Deglaze with the canned tomatoes.

Boil water for the pasta and cook the noodles for about 8 minutes.

Cut the garlic and shred the carrots (or cut into very very small pieces) add both to the bolognese. Allow to simmer for a few minutes, stir occasionally.

Season with salt, cayenne pepper and fresh or frozen herbs. Drain the noodles and serve, if you like, with a spoon-ful of creme fraiche and some cheese (eg Grana Padano or Parmesan). Sprinkle the onions you put aside earlier on top and enjoy!

Let me know if you've tried it, and if you liked it as much as I did! ❤

[easycooking101]

Cooking Advice #8

Frozen berries make great ice cubes for summer drinks or cocktails.

My advice: Fill a glass with frozen raspberries and then add coke. Drink after an hour.

[easycooking101]

Cooking Advice #7

Tomato paste is good.

It makes every sauce that has even a hint of tomato in it taste much fresher and more intense. It tastes great in salad too, even if there are already fresh tomatoes in it.

[easycooking101]

Cooking Advice #6

Convenience products aren't inherently bad. Especially ready-mixed sauce powders can save us a lot of time and energy. Found something you like? Why replace it? Just make sure you combine it with fresh veggies or a nice salad to make it healthier! You can cut some onions or garlic into the sauce, sprinkle it with fresh or frozen herbs, or add fresh pepper or tomatoes.

Yes, it's not the healthiest option, sauce powder mixes always have ingredients we usually try to avoid, but combined with fresh ingredients it's at least better than fast food!

[easycooking101]

Cooking Advice #5

Tired of eating rice all the time? Try couscous, bulgur and quinoa.

Couscous has small grains and is great for stuffed veggies or salads, bulgur tastes a bit stronger than rice and can be used as a substitute in dishes with meat and sauce, and quinoa is a bit wetter than rice but can replace it in all dishes.

[easycooking101]

Cooking Advice #4

When preparing salad, make sure not to let it stand in oil/dressing for too long. Oil makes salad leaves slimier and brown-ish. It's best to add the oil or dressing about 10-20 mins before serving so the spices have time to develop their full flavor in the oil.

[easycooking101]

Cooking Advice #3

Cream sauces aren't just heated cream with vegetables. They're normal sauces with water/ broth and added cream. It'll taste the same but have much less calories!

[easycooking101]

Cooking Advice #2

Fresh herbs! If those aren't an option, use frozen herbs rather than dried ones. Frozen ones taste much fresher and have more vitamins.

[easycooking101]

Cooking Advice #1

Make sure to always have salt, pepper/ cayenne pepper, broth, garlic, onions, fresh or frozen herbs (parsley, basil, mint, and more) and, if you like it spicy, chili at home. Most (European) dishes will taste great with a variety of those spices.