Spotlight On Glossary

Two pre-cooking techniques that help flavor and tenderize meats before they hit the grill.

Marinades are mixtures of liquids that typically include an acidic ingredient like vinegar or citrus juice.

Both marinades and brines can be tailored to suit your meal. For instance, if you are making fajitas, you could marinate flank steak in a chile-lime marinade for an extra layer of flavor. Lean cuts of meat, like flank steak, pork tenderloin and chicken breast benefit from marinades, but if meat sits too long in the mixture, it could become overly acidic.

Brines are salt-water solutions, often slightly sweetened with honey or sugar and flavored with herbs or spices.

Brines are often used for poultry and pork, which need to be cooked to higher temperatures than lamb or beef. The salt tenderizes the proteins in the flash, allowing the meats to absorb extra moisture.

Since pork and chicken need to come to relatively high temperatures for food safety reasons, the extra moisture in the flesh means the meat won't dry out as quickly.

Widely known to be the best sources of calcium, dairy products milk and cheese are easy to work into your diet at breakfast. Since both are high in saturated fat, choose low-fat or skim milk and reduced fat cheese when eating them as part of a regular diet. Full fat cheese, while rich, has a superior flavor and texture to its lowfat counterpart and can be enjoyed in moderation. Reduced fat cheese often has an odd texture and works better when melted into sandwiches or omelets. Lowfat milk can be used in a number of ways, all of which will increase your calcium intake and add nutritious calories to your diet. Use it in cereal, smoothies, to make hot chocolate, or in flour-based white sauces. Calcium is also found in green vegetables, and some nuts and seafood.

Made by fermenting certain legumes, like soybeans, or grains, like barley, miso is a paste used in Japanese cooking, most notably in miso soup, a daily staple of most Japanese diets.

Miso, which varies in color from light to dark and in taste from almost fruity to deep and savory, can also be used in marinades, dressings, and as a way to make some Japanese pickles. Thin it out and brush onto grilled fish, or use in salad dressing.

Miso soup is easy to make—about one tablespoon of miso for each cup of simmering water. Add cubes of tofu, carrots cut into matchsticks, sliced scallions, and serve.

Some say that heating miso past the boiling point diminishes its nutritional properties, so let the soup just come to a simmer before serving.

This nutritious whole grain is used mainly at breakfast for oatmeal, or as an ingredient in bread and cookies. Whole oats, like other whole grains, have their bran, germ, and endosperm intact. Oats are high in soluble fiber, which is known to help lower cholesterol when eaten on a regular basis. Oats also contain important nutrients protein, calcium, and vitamin E. Oatmeal is recommended as part of a weight management plan because the oats absorb a lot of water when cooked, increasing their volume without increasing the amount of calories you eat. Due to the high water volume as well as the fiber, energy from oats is absorbed slowly into the bloodstream, decreasing the appetite and helping to keep blood sugar levels steady.

This fruity, flavorful, monounsaturated oil is used all over the world for cooking and in salad dressings, marinades, and garnishes. Most of the world's olive oil is produced in Mediterranean countries like Italy, Spain, France, and Portugal, as well as in California. Olive oil that's been cold-pressed has been made without the use of chemicals. Extra-virgin olive oil is the first cold-pressing of the season's olives, and has a very low acidity. The next grade is virgin olive oil, with a slightly higher acidity. Extra virgin olive oil often has a delicate flavor, which makes it more suitable for adding to foods after cooking, while less refined olive oils are better for cooking. Like other monounsaturated fats, olive oil lowers LDL cholesterol. Replacing butter with olive oil or other monounsaturated oils can help reduce your risk of heart disease.