Healthy Four Ingredient Recipes

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• Too Busy To Cook? One Author Has Tips For You

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  When you cook at home, you are much more likely to eat healthier, a John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health study showed.

  And while some people may believe they don’t have the time it takes to prepare and cook meals, one cookbook author says anyone can cook healthy and delicious meals that are easy, fast and have very few ingredients.

  “The whole secret to this is to make every single ingredient count,” said Nancy Hughes, a nationally recognized author and food consultant. “It’s got to pop with flavor.”

  Using really good, “high-flavored ingredients” is key, she said.

  To help boost flavor, she recommends a few simple cooking techniques. One of her favorites is reduction, or the cooking down of liquids. Even a minute of reduction can make a difference.

  “It concentrates the flavor, and you drizzle it over whatever you’re cooking,” said Hughes. “It just feels like you’re at a fancy restaurant but you’re at your own table. And you didn’t go to any trouble.”

  Toasting nuts to gain more flavor or adding a little heat to a dish, are other techniques she said she employs.

  If a recipe is simple and easy to use, cooks will have fun, feel relaxed and are more likely to use the recipe again, Hughes said.

  Besides using ingredients with plenty of flavor, she suggests using foods containing several ingredients in one product, such as herb blends or diced canned tomatoes mixed with green chilies.

  Even streamlining the process before you cook will help make meals easier. Hughes recommends pulling all the ingredients and lining them all up on the counter, then do the prep. For instance, if something has to be chopped, do it before you start the cooking process Also, pre-heat the pan so it’s ready to use when the other prep-work is done.

  A good example of a recipe that is simple, delicious and easy is Hughes’ frozen chocolate peanut butter layered pie from her book, “The 4-Ingredient Diabetes Cookbook.”

  Frozen chocolate peanut butter layered pie

  Serves, 8; serving size, 1 piece

  Prep time, 8 minutes; freeze time, about 4 hours

  Ingredients

  • 8 chocolate wafer cookies
  • 3 1/2 cups fat-free, vanilla- or chocolate-flavored frozen yogurt or ice cream (divided use)
  • 1/3 cup reduced-fat creamy peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons caramel or chocolate syrup

  Instructions

  1. Place cookies in a small zippered plastic bag and seal tightly. Using a meat mallet or the back of a large spoon, coarsely crush the cookies and set aside.
  2. Using a fork, stir 1/2 cup frozen yogurt and the peanut butter together in a medium bowl until well blended.
  3. Spoon the remaining yogurt evenly into an 8-inch pie pan. Using two spoons, drop even spoonfuls of the peanut butter mixture evenly over the yogurt.
  4. Sprinkle the cookie crumbs evenly over all. Drizzle the syrup over the cookie crumbs. Cover tightly with foil and freeze until firm or at least 4 hours.

  Cook’s tip: The yogurt and peanut butter in the second step will be a bit stiff to work with at first, but will be easier to stir as the yogurt melts slightly.

  Dietary information

  • 190 calories
  • 5 grams fat
  • 29 grams carbohydrates