Poaching: the Low-Cal Cooking Alternative

When people are trying to lose weight, they often count the calories of everything they eat; however, many people forget that the way they prepare a food can drastically affect the number of calories in a dish. Many preparations of the healthiest foods contain some type of oil or butter that can add (forgotten) calories to the daily total. If you are looking for a way to cut some of those calories or even just more accurately count your calories, I suggest you try poaching your foods.

Most people think of poaching as poached eggs and not much more, but the truth is that most anything can be cooked in this very healthy way of cooking. Poaching cooks food with the use of a hot liquid of your choosing, and it adds very few calories, if any. When poaching meat, you typically get a more succulent piece of meat (or fish) simply because the meat is being cooked in liquids that will be retained once the cooking process is finished.

You can use nearly any type of liquid you want to poach food, so feel free to get creative. I have poached things in stock/wine combinations as well as in seasoned water, and both have come out great. If you’re interested in giving poaching a try, I suggest you look up some recipes to see the amazing variety of poaching liquids suggested in many recipes. You’ll be surprised at how many different options there are. When you’re preparing your poaching liquid, be sure to test the flavor of it – it will give you a better idea of what your finished product will taste like. You can always add more seasoning if you think it will improve the flavor!

Next time you’re looking for healthy recipes, look up poaching recipes to reduce the fat and calories in your cooking preparation.