The 3 Healthiest Ways to Cook Your Vegetables

By Dave From Paleohacks

Creator of the Paleohacks Cookbook

1. Slow-Cooking

Slow-cooking vegetables is one of the gentler ways to prepare them, which makes it an excellent choice.

You might lose some nutrients that leach into the slow-cooker water, but that’s only a problem if you don’t use the water. Fortunately, most slow-cooker dishes (soups and stews) make good use of the water.

Keep your slow-cooker lid closed tight to trap the steam, which helps vegetable nutrients get into your body instead of going to waste.

Consider stirring in some healthy fats (like olive oil), which help your body absorb “fat-soluble” vitamins found in vegetables (vitamins A, D, E, and K).

You don’t have to leave veggies in the slow cooker for too long -- just throw them in for the last hour. It’s a great way to cook your vegetables without over-exposing them to heat.

 2. Steaming

Steaming is an extremely gentle cooking method without a lot of water loss. This helps vegetables keep their nutrients.

Vitamin C is one of the easiest vitamins to destroy. But a 2006 study published in the journal Food Additives & Contaminants found that steaming broccoli didn’t damage its vitamin C content.

Steaming is a simple way to cook without using fats. But this so-called health benefit could come back and haunt you…

Many vitamins in vegetables (vitamins A, D E, and K) are “fat soluble,” which means your body absorbs them better with fat.

So if you eat steamed vegetables without adding fat, your body won’t absorb those important nutrients!

You can avoid this by adding healthy fats like coconut or olive oil to your steamed vegetables -- they taste great, and help your body get the most out of every vegetable.

3. Frying

Did you know that frying your vegetables is actually one of the healthiest ways to cook them?

There isn’t any water to drain, so you don’t have to worry about losing vitamins and minerals that way.

Frying takes high heat, but it cooks vegetables in a short period of time. You throw them into a pan, cook them, and take them off before they lose nutrients.

A study published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition found that fried potatoes had the same vitamin C content as raw potatoes. And vitamin C is one of the most vulnerable to heat!

The biggest issue with frying comes down to the oil you choose to fry with.

Processed or hydrogenated oils (the ones fast food restaurants use) are DESTROYED by high heat. They stress your system and make you inflamed.

Coconut oil is a better choice. It’s one of the most stable healthy fats you can cook with, and holds up even in the high heat of a frying pan or wok.

None of This Matters If You Aren’t Eating Enough Vegetables (Here’s How!)

While steaming broccoli might be better than boiling it, eating boiled broccoli is light years ahead of NOT eating any broccoli at all!

Every cooking method has its pros and cons. It’s easy to get caught up in the details… and lose sight of the big picture.

A better question you can ask:

“How can I make vegetables a regular part of my life?”

If you don’t know where to get started, the PaleoHacks Cookbook can help. It’s designed to help you overcome some of the most common sticking points that keep people from adopting a healthy diet and making it a lifestyle.

It’s easy to get bored if you’re eating the same meals every day. Or frustrated when you’re exhausted from work, short on time, and don’t have any idea what to make.

But the nearly 200 recipes in the PaleoHacks Cookbook (and its valuable bonuses) set you up to thrive. You’ll find out how to make delicious, healthy meals without spending all night in the kitchen…

You’ll experience a whole new world of vegetables, prepared in different ways, that allow you to enjoy hundreds of delicious meal combinations you can make a central part of your new lifestyle.