With more of us at home due to the pandemic, cooking meals in the kitchen has become commonplace. While there’s more work required in preparing your meals at home, it’s also much healthier and contains fewer calories than takeout. It’s also easy for you to tweak your meals to accommodate you and your family’s dietary needs.
While experimenting with new recipes and using fresh ingredients might be fun in the beginning – especially if you’re new to cooking, it can also be overwhelming. Below are some foods that you should have in your kitchen to help you whip up a quick and easy meal.
Extra-virgin olive oil
Commonly used as part of a Mediterranean diet, there’s plenty that you can do with a good bottle of extra-virgin olive oil. As a bonus, it’s also rich in monounsaturated fats, has large amounts of antioxidants, and helps protect against heart disease.
When buying your olive oil, opt for a cold-pressed version for the best flavor. You can drizzle it over salad, vegetable sides, and even fish. Just don’t go overboard as olive oil is packed with calories.
Honey
If you’ve got a sweet tooth, swap out sugar for honey instead. Not only is it a versatile sweetener that you can use to make plenty of delicious desserts from healthy banana pancakes to whole grain blueberry muffins, but you can also use it as a cough soother by mixing it in with your tea. You can also use honey to sweeten marinades or salad dressings.
Beans
This inexpensive ingredient is perfect for salads and soups. It’s also a great source of protein and fiber. To mix it up, stock up on different types of beans from chickpeas to black beans and white beans.
Quinoa
Just one cup of quinoa will provide you with 8 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber. It’s also low in calories and filled with iron and Vitamin B. In comparison to other grains, quinoa is also easy to cook, requiring only 15-minutes of preparation.
You can cook quinoa in chicken stock, or even have it as a substitute for oatmeal in the morning with almond milk, fruits, and topping it with some honey or peanut butter.
Frozen shrimp
Four pieces of shrimp contain only 30 calories, and there’s virtually no fat. They’ve also got a good amount of protein, and you can use them in a variety of different recipes. Incorporate them in pasta, have them in your tacos, bake them, grill them – however you’d like.
Not keen on cooking? You can also hire a private chef for your home using Gathar. Not only will the chef take care of all of your dietary needs, but they can also help with whipping up a menu if you’re not sure where to begin. It’s an excellent way for you to take a break from cooking, and enjoy a nice meal at home.
Eggs
This simple ingredient is filled with 6 grams of protein and contains only 70 calories in a single serving. Eggs can also be cooked in a variety of ways; you can hard boil them at the beginning of the week and have them as a snack, or throw a fried egg on top of some rice.
Fresh herbs
Sometimes, some fresh herbs are all you need to enhance the flavor of a dish. They’ve also got a good amount of antioxidants and can also be used on leftovers. Some herbs that you should have in your kitchen include basil, rosemary, and cilantro. To keep them fresh longer, you can also wrap these herbs in your crisper drawer.