Cooking 101 - Windsor Star

“I am so excited to be here,” I was singing this to the small group of six in an experimental kitchen. Shelly, a food scientist, was leading the group of us budding chefs.  My  cooking partner was Joel, a single 40 something male wanting to eat healthier.

“Today, you are going to leave here having a better appreciation of what and how to cook foods to maximize their nutritional components and taste,” she begins.  Our menu looked fairly simple:

• spinach salad with grapefruit sections
• cooked carrots
• baked potatoes
• spare ribs in asian barbecue sauce
• corn on the cob
• garlicky green beans

We each had a food to prepare â€" without a recipe.  However, we had to research why this method preserved the nutrients and why.

Making the spinach salad was easy â€" the “why” took some googling.  My presentation included how spinach can lose up to 50% of it’s vitamin C if not refrigerated within 24 hours after picking.  The amount of vitamin A in grapefruits can vary as much as 200 times depending on the variety, growing conditions, time of harvesting, handling and storage.

Joel, having boiled the ribs first in order to remove some fat from the ribs, then slow roasted, shared how the main nutrients: protein and iron, are not lost in the liquid or in the heating.  The vitamin C in the barbecue sauce helps increase the absorption of iron in the meat. (He tried to justify why it is okay to eat more ribs until Shelly reminded him of the calories in one serving size.)

Kate’s carrot dish was eyebrow lifting.  Cooked carrots  (and potatoes) allows more nutrients to be absorbed.  The firm cell structure softens, thus accessing more carotenes, Vitamin C, and minerals to be absorbed.  Similarly, James’ boiled corn contains an essential amino acid, lysine that becomes activated when cooked with a strong alkali (note to self: google alkali method).

Shelly reminds us that mineral loss, such as calcium, iron, zinc, and potassium is only 5-10% no matter how the vegetables are cooked.  Sautéing spinach shrinks the volume and so we eat more of it, thus we’ll take in more nutrients over all.  Vitamin loss in cooking vegetables is much higher.  The exception includes tomatoes, eggplants, asparagus and green beans as they retain around 80% of their vitamins regardless of their cooking methods.

Helen (the keener of the group with her blackberry) presented the effects of boiling vegetables.  “Water soluble  B and C vitamins can get destroyed by heat or dissolving into the water.  By cooking without using water, such as sautéing, braising or in a casserole will reduce these vitamin losses.  Adding the vegetables into boiling water will reduce the cooking time and vitamin C loss.  Another way is by using little water in cooking vegetables and covering with a lid to reduce cooking time.  Cutting the vegetables into smaller pieces also will reduce the cooking time.  Drink the cooking liquid.”  (Helen got an “A”.)

I summed it up, “As long as you find an enjoyable way to eat more vegetables (deep frying not included) then more means more nutrients overall.” (I trumped Helen.)

Victoria Mikhail is a local nutritionist and has currently launched “The Athlete Can Cook” nutrition guide and recipe book.  Check her website: www.spicedwithnutrition.ca for recipe ideas and to order her book.