Cooking Fresh
One of the easiest ways to cook fresh is to use regional ingredients. A few examples of this are lobster in Maine, shrimp in Florida, and salmon in Washington and Oregon. Aside from seafood, there are other examples of regionally fresh food. You can get good beef in Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, and many other states. Good produce can be had in a lot of states. There is corn in Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois. You can find okra in the southern states. These are just a few examples, but there are many more.
One of the best places to find fresh produce is at a farmers' market. There are farmers' markets in a lot of places in the US. Organic farming is also increasing, creating more demand for fresh foods. Supporting the local farmers will not only get you fresh produce today, but also into the future. This is one of the things we can do to assure the future of fresh produce in our country.
Aside from using fresh local foods, you can also use local beverages. There are some great wines coming from California, Oregon, and Washington. These can often be had when they are first released for a fraction of the price they are later available for. Another great way to utilize beverages in cooking is with local micro brew beers. The trend towards high quality micro brews seems to be spreading from its renaissance in the Pacific Northwest. Great stews and rich meat sauces can be made using a dark porter or stout. Potatoes can be complimented nicely by the wheat flavor of hefeweisen.
Aside from using quality fresh ingredients, you can also cook fresh by utilizing certain cooking techniques. Using steam to cook is a great way to hold in flavor, and prevent dishes from drying out on the stovetop. Some people actually buy vegetable steamers to cook fresher. While it is not necessary to buy a separate appliance for this purpose, cooking solely with steam is a very healthy way to cook. You don't need any fat from butter or oil to cook with steam, and it holds in the moisture as well as any liquid you would add to a dish. Using steam to cook also transmits heat more evenly, preventing burnt and unevenly cooked foods.
One easy way to utilize steam regardless of your setup is to leave lids on pots and pans while cooking. This prevents the steam that is naturally created from evaporating out of the pan, helping to seal the moisture in. The only drawback to this is that you can't see the food unless you have see-through lids on your pots and pans. Another quick and easy way to seal in the steam is to place a piece of tin foil over the pan, but be careful when removing it so you don't let the steam burn you. While you can choose to use water with a little bit of seasoning or without, this is not the only way to steam. You can utilize steam in this manner using any liquid. Whether you use wine or water, leaving the lid on helps hold in the moisture and distributes the flavor evenly throughout the dish.
Cooking fresh doesn't have to be about only cooking with steam and fresh vegetables. You can use light sauces and any number of ingredients to cook fresh. Another way people describe this is cooking light. The main idea to keep in mind is that any fat containing ingredient is kept to a minimum, or left out all together. Instead of cooking using a lot of oil, butter, milk, or cream, you can use wine, beer, or water as a liquid base. Some of the regions known for their high rate of heart attacks could decrease this by using less fat and oil when cooking. Instead of breading and frying foods, they could use wine and spices to cook foods, using the steam to hold in moisture. Instead of cooking with butter, olive oil can be substituted. Although this is not as healthy as using no oil, it is certainly healthier than using butter or fat.
Even if you are going to use frozen vegetables and frozen meats, using less fat containing ingredients will help keep the meal healthier and make it taste much fresher. This style of cooking does not require completely changing the foods you eat. It's not a strict diet, regulating the exact calorie intake and carbohydrates you eat. It is much easier to change, if you are simply willing to change how you cook. There is no limit to how creative you can be, and what flavors you can use to make mouthwatering dishes. Above all, have fun and cook fresh. Your body will thank you, and your taste buds will be no less happy!