Are you struggling to prepare healthy meals that not only keep your waistline slim, but also taste good? Well, you’re not alone. A lot of home cooks find it difficult to make healthy and delicious food – and many wrongly assume that only processed food tastes good. They are very wrong: chefs have been using numerous tricks to make delicious low carb meal options, and we have borrowed 7 expert tips to share with you.

Use lots of spices and herbs

It’s amazing how sweet your food can taste when you add a little herb and spice. If you’re making chicken, fish, sautéing vegetables, or making rice, adding spices will make a huge difference to the taste. So what are some of the best spices to use?

• Pepper
• Sea salt
• Garlic
• Basil
• Oregano
• Paprika
• Chicken spice

Season your butter to use less of it

You already know that healthy food needs less butter; so how would a chef prepare it? Most prefer to season the butter. Use garlic, thyme, or lemon zest to add that extra flavor, and you will be guaranteed to use less of it overall. To season butter, just heat it in a saucepan and wait until it foams, and then remove it and add your herbs and spices or choice. Allow it to sit for a while, and then strain and refrigerate it.

Sweeten your food naturally

Our brains are hardwired to go for sweet, salty, and savory foods. And this is probably why processed food sells more than healthy food, and why we get addicted to it. But don’t worry; there are ways to sweeten food while still keeping it healthy. Consider adding these natural sweeteners to your meals:

• Fruits (apples bananas, berries, etc.)
• Dried fruit (raisins, figs, dates, etc.)
• Maple syrup, or if possible, natural honey
• Coconut
• Agave nectar

Now the next question is, where and when should you use these flavors? These ideas will go well when paired with food like:

• Oatmeal
• Quinoa
• Snacks (fruits, nuts, nut butter, etc.)
• Salad
• Black coffee
• Plain yogurt

Roast your veggies

Most people don’t like the taste of healthy veggies such beets. But there’s a way you can prepare them so that the meal tastes delicious, and you still get the valuable nutrients. One way chefs balance the less pleasant flavors of vegetables like beets is by roasting them. It’s quite simple, just cut off the stem and leaves, and then line a baking sheet with a parchment paper, and bake your veggies for 30 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. When finished, peel and then serve with mustard. you can roast other veggies too; sometimes you just need to toss them with a bit of oil and voila; you have great tasting veggies.

Use healthy sauces

There are a number of sauces that are good for your health and add great taste to your food. Consider using salsa, mustard, hot sauce, and soy sauce. They are great additions to chicken, fish, red meat, and other protein meals. You can also use them to add a sweet flavor to stir-frys or other side dishes like quinoa and brown rice.

Marinade

Marinating meat makes it taste good, and it also makes the protein tender and much easier to enjoy. It is recommended that you marinate meats for at least 24 hours for optimal flavor and texture. We have a few tips for you to consider when marinating:

• Use marinades that are mainly olive oil
• When using sweeteners, maple syrup or honey are good choices
• Avoid sugary sauces and marinades that have refined sugar
• Use garlic salt, basil, pepper, and oregano
• Mustard and hot sauce are great for adding flavor to marinades

Add vinegar

If you think your dish needs something extra but don’t want to add salt or butter, try using vinegar. It’s a refreshing way to make a regular dish taste better in a minute. For added variety, use balsamic vinegar on soups and red vinegar on braised meat. 

By being creative with your cooking, you can make food that tastes delicious and this will make it easier to adopt healthier eating habits.