Making healthy, home-cooked meals: How do you get started?

Home-cooked meals can serve up a host of benefits for your heart. Compared with people who eat out frequently, people who eat meals made at home tend to weigh less, have healthier cholesterol and blood sugar values, and are less likely to develop diabetes. But for a lot of people, the prospect of making healthy, home-cooked meals feels daunting. A lack of cooking skills isn't necessarily the main problem, however.

"If you ask people what's the biggest barrier to making home-cooked meals, they'll tell you it's time, not skills," says Dr. Rani Polak, founding director of the Culinary Healthcare Education Fundamentals (CHEF) Coaching program at Harvard's Institute of Lifestyle Medicine (see "What is lifestyle medicine?"). A physician and trained chef, he's been coaching health care providers for more than a decade on how to encourage patients to make healthy, plant-focused meals.

During a daylong workshop in June 2024, he and his colleagues gave an overview of the CHEF program to health care providers from around the world. Following are some of the time-saving tips they shared, including smart ways to stock your pantry, fridge, and freezer with legumes, whole grains, and vegetables.

Embrace batch cooking

This technique requires very little hands-on work and nets you more food without added effort. The idea is to make a large batch of whole grains or legumes and store single or meal-sized servings in your freezer. For example, you can use an electric pressure cooker to make a dozen or more half-cup servings of brown rice. Electric pressure cookers also work well for cooking big batches of all types of dried beans (such as black beans, navy beans, or chickpeas). No pressure cooker? Stovetop cooking takes longer, but the hands-on work remains the same, Dr. Polak points out. Check online recipes for cooking times. For super-speedy options, try orange lentils (boil in water for just five to seven minutes) and cracked wheat, also called bulgur (add equal parts of boiling water and medium-coarse bulgur to a bowl, stir, and cover with a plate for five minutes).

You can also make batches of your favorite flavor boosters, such as citrus zest, garlic, and ginger. Zest a few lemons or limes. Peel a few heads of garlic, then mince all the cloves together in a mini-chopper or small food processor. Do the same with a few knobs of fresh ginger.

Streamline your storage strategy

Dried legumes — which include beans, lentils, and peas — can be stored in your pantry for at least a year. Whole grains are good for six months (or up to a year in the freezer). Once you cook them, silicone muffin pans make it easy to freeze half-cup sized portions of grains, beans, soups, or stews, says CHEF faculty member Jane Barg, a chef and board-certified health and wellness coach. Once the food is frozen solid, you can pop out the portions to store in a larger container. If you forget to thaw them before it's time to cook, simply reheat in a little water over low heat on the stove, she says.

Reusable silicone storage bags or plastic freezer bags that can lie flat can be a space-efficient solution for leftovers. They also work well for storing minced garlic, ginger, or citrus zest in the freezer — just break off a little piece as needed for cooking, says Barg.

Shop smarter

Vegetables play a starring role in plant-based meals, but fresh veggies sometimes spoil before you get around to using them. Try these tips:

• If you shop weekly, use tender produce such as salad greens and spinach early in the week; save harder vegetables such as broccoli and carrots for later.
• Keep a stash of frozen vegetables, which are just as nutritious as fresh.
• For vegetables that take a lot of time and energy to prepare, like butternut squash, buy pre-cut versions.
• Try buying a new whole grain or legume whenever you shop, and spend a little time each week to gradually build up your freezer stockpile.

Start with small changes

Before trying batch cooking, start by buying canned beans and frozen cooked brown rice. Experiment with adding beans or grains to meat dishes; for example, substitute beans for some of the beef in your favorite stew, or mix some whole grains into turkey meatballs. Add extra vegetables to soups, grain dishes, or pasta, or layer them on top of chicken or fish.

Make creative combinations

To create a filling, nutrient-packed main dish, combine a legume, a cooked whole grain, and chopped vegetables, which can be raw, steamed, saut'ed, or roasted. Add dried or fresh fruit, spices, and fresh herbs to create different flavor combinations. For example, you might saut' onion, garlic, and curry powder with whatever vegetables you have on hand along with some brown rice and lentils. Or toss together bulgur wheat, chickpeas, and feta cheese with chopped tomatoes, peppers, and parsley. Stuck in a lunch rut? Make some dips by pur'eing white beans with roasted garlic, basil, and olive oil, or blending black beans with lime, cilantro, and jalapeno. Eat with cut veggies or whole-grain crackers.

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