At the end of a busy day, preparing a meal from scratch is often the last thing anyone wants to face.
Australian recipe developer and naturopath, Stephanie Hinton, believes it’s possible to create healthy meals, with limited time, with a few hacks up your sleeve.
‘The most important thing you can do is to eat nourishing food and to use the time you have to make really well-balanced meals,’ she said.
Here, FEMAIL takes a look at some of Stephanie’s tried and tested time-saving kitchen tricks that will ensure there’s always something healthy on the table.
Recipe developer and naturopath, Stephanie Hinton (pictured) believes it’s possible to create nutritious meals with limited time
PRE-COOK GRAINS
One of Stephanie’s top time-savers is to always have portions of her favourite grains – brown rice, quinoa, and white rice – frozen, and ready to use.
She recommends using a rice cooker to cook in bulk ahead of time, and then freeze in servings sizes.
‘When they’re needed, take them out of the freezer, and run some hot water over them and add to meals. This can save 30 minutes cooking time,’ she says.
‘Having a few key items prepped and ready to go at the beginning of the week takes the stress out of cooking and makes your time in the kitchen far more enjoyable!
PRE-CHOP AND FREEZE VEGETABLES
The busy recipe developer, who believes a little preparation goes a long way, suggests if you’re chopping vegetables for one meal, chop extra which you can then portion and freeze.
She also says if you have bananas that are starting to brown in the fruit bowl, peel and chop these and freeze them as well.
‘That way if you need fruit for smoothies, you’ll always have some on-hand.’
ADD GARLIC TO COOKING LAST
If you’re cooking with garlic, Stephanie recommends chopping it first but adding it to meals last.
‘From a health perspective it allows the enzymes from the garlic to activate so it’s better for you, and it won’t burn when you add to hot oil.’
When cooking with garlic, the recipe developer recommends adding it to meals last to allow enzymes to activate
BUY FRESH GINGER
If you love cooking with ginger, but hate spending time trying to peel it, dispense with the peeling part entirely, the expert said.
To do this, you’ll need to buy the freshest ginger possible and grate with a micro-plane.
‘If it’s fresh and young ginger, you don’t need to peel it.’
FREEZE UNUSED CHILLI
When you buy a bag of chillies, it can often be difficult to use them all before they turn soft and need to be thrown away.
Instead, Stephanie says to freeze any half used chillies or leftover garlic or ginger into a freezer bag.
‘The next time you need them, you can pull these out to grate over a stir-fry or stew.’
EXTRACTING A EGG YOLK FROM EGG WHITES
If you’ve ever tried to remove an egg-yolk from whites you’ll know it’s a near impossible feat.
But if you’ve got a plastic bottle on hand, it couldn’t be simpler.
Make sure the bottle you’re using is clean, place over the egg yolk and squeeze. The motion sucks up the egg yolk, and you’re left with untainted whites and a yolk that’s still usable.
Extract egg yolks that have fallen into the mix accidentally by using a plastic bottle
QUICK DEFROSTING METHODS
Trying to defrost meat or chicken at the last minute can make cooking time-consuming.
While one option is to use a microwave, another is to thaw by placing on a stainless steel tray.
The theory holds that metal defrosts faster than wood or porcelain because it conducts heat better. If frozen food thawed in a metal dish, the ambient heat is transferred making defrosting easier.
COOK PASTA IN A PAN
If you want to make cooking pasta a breeze, forget about using a pot and waiting for water to boil.
Pasta can be cooked in a frying pan by simply covering with cold water and turning up the heat.
Not only does the pasta cook faster, but the cold water ensures the pasta won’t stick together.
Pasta doesn’t need to be cooked in a pot with boiling water. It can be cooked in a frying pan using cold water and turning up the head
BROWN ONIONS QUICKLY
If your recipe calls for caramelised onions, a pinch of bicarbonate soda added while cooking will speed up the process.
Stephanie says having a few key items prepped takes the stress out of cooking
However, it’s important not to go overboard with bicarbonate soda as this could affect flavour, and therefore the taste. Do remember to add salt – though this shouldn’t be added until the very end.
The onion pieces need moisture, and caramelise better without drawing out the water while they are cooking.
DON’T ALWAYS PEEL VEGETABLES
Meals that call for root vegetables don’t always need to be peeled, Stephanie says.
But she does recommend giving vegetables a good wash and scrub before adding them to your dish.
‘They’ll be safe to eat and the skin filled with fibre and nutrients that you would normally be chucking in the bin!