10 Common Cooking Mistakes You're Probably Making

By Neha

Wednesday, January 3, 2018, 17:54

common cooking mistakes you're probably making

Cooking is an art, as it involves creativity, imagination and the right method. It doesn't matter whether you are a professional or an amateur cook. The cooking method might be different but the ingredients are the same.

Many of you like to eat vegetables and cook them in a proper way to enhance the taste. Cooking vegetables can be as simple or as complicated, depending on the way you make it. You want it to be a delicious dish by retaining all the maximum amount of flavour and nutrients.

However, sometimes, an innocent error can lead to a disappointing dish or you might even be cooking your veggies in the wrong way by sucking out all the nutrients from it.

Whether you are struggling with cooking vegetables or you are looking for more creative ways to cook them, here are the 10 common cooking mistakes you're probably making while cooking food. Make sure to avoid these at any cost.

1. Using The Wrong Oil

If you are up for experiment, you should use other kinds of cooking oil as well. Experiment with other oils besides extra-virgin olive oil, because olive oil does not work well in every dish that you cook. If you are cooking a dish which requires high heat, you should use a different oil for that.

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2. Boiling Veggies

Boiling the vegetables is an old method of cooking vegetables, which can really deplete the amount of nutrients in the vegetables. It can end up all soggy. Instead, you can try steaming the veggies that will keep all the nutrients intact. Steaming them would benefit your health too.

3. Overcooking

One of the common mistakes you make while you are cooking vegetables is to overcook them. Overcooking the vegetables might burn them easily and also result in the loss of nutrients. Overcooked vegetables is not good for your health because it is burnt, nutrients are lost and this also drains out the flavour.

4. Throwing Out Leftovers

When you are cutting your vegetables, you must be throwing out the skin and rinds, which actually contain most of the nutrients. To increase the nutritional value, cook your veggies with the leftover pieces and then remove them before serving.

5. Not Adding Salt

Salt adds flavour to any dish that you cook whether you're steaming or boiling it. It is composed of sodium and chloride which helps in maintaining the fluid balance of the body. Sodium helps the body to absorb chloride, amino acids, glucose and water. Salt also regulates blood pressure.

6. Chopping Veggies Too Early

When you are chopping your vegetables far ahead of your cooking time, they can get dehydrated and lose their fresh flavour. Don't freeze them after chopping, as it may pose a health risk. Chop them before you are ready to cook, so that they retain their flavour and crispness.

7. Exposing Veggies To Heat

If you are roasting the vegetables to heat for too long, it will destroy the majority of the vegetable's nutrients. Boiling them is also not a good idea because this method causes water-soluble micro-nutrients to leach out into the water which is then thrown away.

8. Not Pairing Veggies With Fat

Pairing a little bit of fat with orange, yellow, red and dark-green vegetables helps the body absorb cancer-fighting and heart-healthy nutrients like lycopene and beta-carotene. Pair your vegetables with healthy sources of fat to reap the maximum nutritional benefits.

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9. Overcrowding the Pan

If you have the habit of overcrowding the pan with as much food as possible to cook faster, you are doing a mistake. Overcrowding the pan with food doesn't let the food cook evenly and it can result in an uneven flavour, texture and temperature. This may result in inadequate nutrient supply to the body.

10. Coating Pans With Non-stick Spray

Non-stick spray is the fastest, simplest and the lest messy method. Most non-stick sprays aren't just vegetable oil. If it is butter flavoured, it is likely to contain the flavouring chemical diacetyl, which has been linked to lung disease.