How to Make Healthy Meals More Flavorful
Find yourself eating the same old chicken, tofu, and veggies every day? These tips will help you get out of a rut.
I started cooking my own meals as a kid, and by the time I was a teenager, making dinner was solely my job at home. It took many failures like bland, leathery-dry chicken breast, and soggy, boring broccoli before dinner seemed to turn out right.
Part of the challenge was figuring out what can make healthy staples flavorful. It’s a lack of flavor that kept me, and likely other home cooks, from sticking to those lean or plant-based meats, leafy greens, whole grains, and legumes—part of the healthy kind of diet Consumer Reports encourages. But these healthy foods and others don’t need to be plain.
“There’s this wild misconception that healthy food equals bland and tasteless food, which couldn’t be further from the truth,” says Marissa Leon John, a Black chef who makes Fairy Dust, a line of spice blends influenced by her Caribbean roots.
Delicious ingredients from cuisines around the world can perk up your meals, and with so many options to choose from, you can rotate the basics without repeating flavors for weeks. We checked in with chefs who work with international cuisines to get some ideas.
Spice Up Your Proteins
John says one of the biggest cooking lessons she learned from her family is the importance of seasoning and marinating foods.
“For me, it’s all about packing in as much flavor as possible, yet I know that for them, it had everything to do with bringing the most out of those less expensive—and often less desirable—foods, because that’s what a lot of immigrant families can afford.”
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Legumes, which are great sources of plant protein, can be bland on their own, but they easily take up the flavor of the ingredients they’re paired with. Rajkumar recommends tossing legumes with curry spices such as cumin, coriander, turmeric, and garam masala. He’s also fond of Kashmiri Red Chili Powder for some heat.
Beyond adding spices, packing in more produce, more herbs, and more texture can make dishes more interesting and filling. You can do this with whatever ingredients you prefer, but here are some suggestions.
Shishito peppers are a favorite of John’s. Add them to salads or lean meat and veggie-packed stir-fries. Or just sauté them quickly in a hot pan, toss them with your favorite spices and a dash of soy sauce and honey, and sprinkle with sesame seeds, John says. “They are quite mild, though you occasionally get one with a little kick.”
Okra is high in filling fiber. John suggests adding grilled, seasoned okra to salads for extra heft. If you’re concerned about okra being slimy, don’t be. Grilling and other high-heat cooking methods cook okra quickly, before its gel-like substance has a chance to develop.
Toasted nuts and seeds such as almonds, walnuts, or sesame seeds, give leafy greens, green beans, and broccoli some crunch and extra flavor, Rajkumar says.
Also try plant-based sauces instead of using rich or salty gravies and sauces. Jeong Muk Kim, executive chef at Anto Korean Steakhouse, recommends cold-brewing kelp, seaweed, and shiitake mushrooms in the refrigerator and using that flavorful liquid as a seasoning or sauce.
Snack Better
Snacking can be good for you, provided you choose healthy foods, but many people don’t because chips and cookies seem more exciting. Nutrient-rich eggs and popcorn may be a solution. Rajkumar says they’re healthy options that can easily be dressed up.
“Popcorn is a whole grain, and if it’s air-popped, it can be a satisfying low-calorie snack,” he says. Instead of topping it with butter and salt, try sprinkling on your favorite seasonings, or perhaps some garam masala. Hardboiled eggs may seem a bit pedestrian, but turn them into deviled eggs and a boring snack becomes party food. They’re easier to make than you may think and are very versatile.
