What are the characteristics of a healthy dish?

Question

homec homework question ~ plz do help ! ty ~

Answer 1

Healthy Ingredients
The healthiest ingredients are whole fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, healthy oils like olive oil, walnut oil, grape seed oil, and rice bran oil. Nuts, legumes and soy are healthy ingredients, and so are whole grain breads, and pastas. Meats and poultry should be lean whenever possible, and low fat dairy products are good too. I really like recipes that include several healthy ingredients, rather than just one or two. For example, Wild Rice with Cranberries and Apples is a great healthy dish with a great balance of whole grains, nuts, and fruit. Serve this with a lean chicken breast for an incredibly tasty and healthy meal. Pork with Cabbage and Apples is another example of a great recipe with several healthy ingredients.
Leave Out Unhealthy Ingredients
Unhealthy ingredients include sugar, processed foods, saturated and trans fat, white refined flour, and products made with refined white flour. Evaluating a recipe can be easy. For example, a recipe that calls for processed foods like luncheon meats, processed cheese-products or high fat products like mayonnaise isn't healthy and should not become a recipe you use very often.
Sometimes evaluating a recipe is more difficult. Spaghetti and meatballs seems like a healthy meal, but a large portion of the meal is pasta made from refined white flour and the meatballs may have a lot of saturated fat in them. On the flip side, the spaghetti sauce itself is very healthy with lots of tomatoes that give us vitamins and lycopene. Garlic, peppers, herbs seasonings and mushrooms are healthy ingredients you might find in a spaghetti recipe.

When you find a recipe that confuses you, just alter the recipe a bit. Make your meatballs from ground turkey meat and use a whole grain pasta, or decrease the serving size and add a big salad on the side.

Cooking Methods
The cooking method used in a recipe is very important. Deep-frying is probably the least healthy of the cooking methods, especially if the oil is used more than once. Pan frying might be a little better, but still not so good if you use a lot of oil and batters on your foods that absorb a lot of oil. Sauteing in a bit of olive oil or canola oil is better, and roasting in an oven is better yet. Boiling vegetables will not add any extra calories, but you will loose some of the valuable nutrients when you drain off the cooking water. Microwaving is a great way to cook vegetables because it is quick so not many nutrients are lost.
Here are a couple examples of recipes prepared with different methods. Potatoes are a nice source of vitamin C and fiber if you leave on the skins. A medium sized baked potato only has about 100 calories and is a healthy food when cooked in this manner. A french-fried potato is not so healthy. The fat used to deep-fry the potato is not healthy, and the potato absorbs a lot of oil, so the same size potato that is french fried has many more calories and fat. If you like french fries, try slicing the potato into strips and lightly coat the strips with olive oil. Bake them on a baking sheet until they are tender.

Another example of good verses bad cooking methods would be this example with a chicken breast. Baking a chicken breast in the oven with some salsa or chicken broth is a healthy way to prepare the chicken. If you take that same chicken breast, coat it with a batter and deep fry it, that piece of chicken becomes an unhealthy, fattening food.

Always look for healthy ingredients. Avoid unhealthy ingredients or find healthier substitutes. Choose recipes that let you bake, roast, microwave or saute your foods.

Answer 2

The characteristics of a healthy dish are the inclusion of protein, carbohydrates and vitamins.

Answer 3

Basic rule of thumb for healthy eating - use only ingredients as close to their natural state as possible (no man-made "foods", refined, processed, artificial) - and no excess of sugar or fats. Natural sugars (like honey) or fats in small amounts is fine (real butter, olive oil) and in fact healthy, the key is to ONLY eat when you are hungry, and never keep eating after you feel satisfied. Of course, that can be hard to do if you are making such tasty healthy food ! Wish I could follow my own advice !

Answer 4

Characteristics of a healthy dish:

~variety of colors of vegetables/starches, which therefore provide a variety of nutritents (vits & mins)
~high in fiber, low in fat
~eye-appealing, so you want to eat it.
~tasty, so you can get the healthy food past the taste buds
~appropriate portion sizes for eater

Answer 5

well....for a simple answer
variety of color (and i dont mean skittles)
picture a healthy salad: green lettuce and cucumbers, yellow peppers, red tomatoes, orange carrots, etc.
im sure you already know basically what is healthy and not, so just look for variety..not white rice, potatoes, etc for the same meal

Answer 6

Low fat, lots of fresh or lightly cooked veggies, a dish that uses herbs & spices for seasoning,

Answer 7

No Trans fat, no saturated fat, but some good omega fats.
Modest amount of carbohydrates, a variety of vegetables.