| In recent years, every small town in the United States has had an increase in the variety of ethnic restaurants. Not only the requisite Chinese, but also Indian, Mexican, Cuban, Jamaican and so on have found a receptive audience for each type of cuisine. A whole panoply of different cuisines have popped up everywhere. Along with the restaurants, ethnic food products can be easily be found in most supermarkets. There are even ethnic food markets in almost every major city in the United States. Ethnic food stores might specialize in Russian foods, Asian foods, Mexican foods and more.
In addition to the markets, every bookstore and library has cookbooks devoted to each different ethnic cuisine. Television shows even devote their time to teaching their viewers about international flavors and cuisine. Once mastering some of the basic techniques for each type of cuisine, you can experiment with ingredients and ethnic recipes yourself. Once at a market, some of the staff can help you in deciding some of your new recipes and help you pick out products. Ethnic cooking does not have to be burdensome or tricky. Learn just a few of the techniques and spices, use the freshest of ingredients and you’ll have a wonderful dinner.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Obesity Guidelines from the National Institute of Health recommends trying different ethnic cuisines to give yourself a taste treat while counting calories and fat. Many ethnic cuisines offer lots of low fat, low calorie choices. Another benefit to eating ethnic foods is the variation in herbs and spices. Many foreign flavors have additional health benefits that we might not typically find in American food. For instance, oregano is known to have antioxidant qualities so sprinkle some on your pizza! If you want to eat healthy and still have lots of different choices, take a taste adventure with ethnic foods.
Some favorite ethnic recipes include food cooked in a wok. Every supermarket has sauces specific to an ethnic cuisine. For example, there is oyster sauce. Cook small, thinly cut slices of skinless chicken add plenty of vegetables – say broccoli, carrots, celery, red, green or yellow peppers and then add oyster sauce and serve with rice. This is a wonderful change of pace, but also a basic recipe that can be altered depending on everyone’s different tastes. In addition, clean up is a snap, since only two pans were used in preparation and it is easily reheated for lunch.
|
