You don’t need a written recipe to achieve great low carb cooking from home. One basic cooking method and the ingredients YOU desire are all it takes. Earlier this week, I showed you a low carb chicken recipe using sauté method. Today’s inspiration will follow the same procedure with different ingredients.
Written recipes won’t teach you to cook any more than having sheet music will teach you to play piano. Recipes have inherent flaws and variables that make them difficult to duplicate exactly. When a recipe calls for “one onion, chopped”, how big is this onion? Onions are different sizes, they’re from nature, not from a factory.
The written recipe dilemma continues if you’re pursuing a certain diet or style of eating. Searching for low-fat, gluten-free, high protein, or lactose-free recipes can be time consuming and frustrating. I guarantee you’ll waste a lot of time searching for “organic food recipes” when using organic ingredients can be applied to ANY recipe or basic cooking method.
Over the past three months, I’ve been scrutinizing everything I eat, drawing my best conclusions about why I’ve felt tired, listless, and cranky throughout the day. With the help of my friend, Ben Greenfield and some tips for healthy living, I’ve come to the conclusion that my diet included too many carbohydrates, too much pasta, rice, potatoes and bread that are weighing me down.
I’m starting to practice more low carb cooking from home by substituting more protein-rich ingredients for the carbohydrates that used to dominate my plate. I’ve begun using more beans, eggs, avocados, spinach, and complex grains like quinoa instead of pasta, rice or potatoes.
I don’t have to search for low carb recipes, I don’t have to buy another cookbook, I don’t have to hope the Food TV will give me the answers. That’s because with one simple cooking method, I can use any ingredients that I desire to reach my dietary goals. I can create my own dishes with the items already in my kitchen with a basic sauté method, no matter what my cooking and diet goals are.
The basic sauté procedure is the fastest and easiest way to get dinner done:
1) Heat your sauté pan until drops of water dance and evaporate immediately.
2) Add some type of fat or oil to the pan, but only enough to barely coat the bottom.
3) Heat the fat until it changes from perfectly smooth to getting swirls and lines to it. This is the indicator that it’s just about to break down and smoke.
4) Add aromatic ingredients like onion, garlic, ginger, or peppers.
5) Add protein ingredients like shrimp, chicken, beef, pork, or even tofu.
6) Add a flavorful liquid to the pan like broth, cream, or even coconut milk
7) Add steamed vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, carrots, string beans.
8) Add more protein like beans, eggs, avocados, or spinach. Or, add carbohydrates like rice or Asian noodles.
9) Portion onto your plate and garnish with sesame seeds, crushed cashews or sliced peppers.
10) You’re done in less than 10 steps.
When you learn to cook, you gain great power over your food choices. When you learn to cook without recipes, you save time and money as well. Cooking without recipes means learning a few basic cooking methods that you can duplicate no matter what the ingredients. My low carb cooking at home is quick and enjoyable because I’m not following someone else’s written instructions. I’m creating from the ingredients I desire in a way that makes cooking fun!
See the entire low carb cooking from home video here.
Chef Todd Mohr is a classically trained chef, entrepreneur, cooking educator and founder of WebCookingClasses. You can experience his unique approach to no-recipe cooking with his FREE online cooking classes . The 7 minute class will change the way you think about cooking forever.