Healthy eating is as delicious as it is nutritious—a feast for the senses as well as good for the body. The Healthy Eating Plate is an excellent guide for creating healthy, balanced meals, and cooking is a great way to experiment with new flavors. We offer recipes for cooking at home — whether for yourself, or your friends and family — as well as recipes for larger food service operations.
To get you started, we’ve compiled helpful suggestions for how to create a healthy kitchen.
5 Quick Tips to Stock a Healthy Kitchen
1. Produce
Choose locally grown vegetables and fruits whenever you can, and eat plenty every day. Aim for a variety of colors — variety is as important as quantity; no single fruit or vegetable provides all of the nutrients you need to be healthy.
2. Grains
Trade in white rice for whole grains such as barley, bulgur, oat berries, quinoa, brown rice, and more. Try perusing your local grocery store’s bulk bins to discover new, delicious whole grains that are often simple to prepare.
3. Protein
Rely on healthy protein such as fresh fish, chicken or turkey, tofu, eggs, and a variety of beans and nuts. Remember to balance your plate with lots of vegetables & fruit, whole grains and healthy fats as well.
4. Fats and oils
Use liquid vegetable oils whenever possible for sautéing vegetables, stir-frying fish or chicken, and as the base of salad dressings. Good choices include canola, sunflower, corn, soybean, peanut, and olive oil.
5. Other essentials
Even a small amount of a high-quality ingredient can have a big impact on flavor. Stock your kitchen with high-quality basics like extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, fresh and dried herbs, and a variety of unsalted nuts (such as walnuts, almonds, and pistachios), and you’ll have flavorful building blocks for any recipe.
A note about recipe development
Some of the recipes were contributed by well-known chefs like Ming Tsai and Mollie Katzen, who collaborated with Harvard University Dining Services chefs Martin Breslin and Patty Gregory. Other recipes are from the renowned Culinary Institute of America. These contributors created colorful dishes that are both healthy and delicious.
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The contents of this website are for educational purposes and are not intended to offer personal medical advice. You should seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The Nutrition Source does not recommend or endorse any products.