How to cook healthy delicious meals at home
that can save you lots of time and money

The Healthiest Way of Cooking will help you to stay informed about cooking healthier, getting healthier and becoming more powerful by:

• Taking you beyond traditional methods of cooking which focus primarily on taste and appearance to the ultimate in healthy cooking for improved nutrition and the overall enjoyment of healthy eating
• Demonstrating how to perfectly prepare over 40 different foods based on new scientific discoveries by taking into consideration their individual uniqueness
• Teaching you how low cooking temperatures, short cooking times, and avoiding the use of heated oils retains the maximum nutrition and enjoyment of foods
• Helping you to enjoy the essence of foods and methods that are required to achieve excellence in cooking
• Providing you with minimalist approach to cooking with recipes that take 5 minutes or less with 3 or less ingredients without compromising flavor
• Demonstrating how to have perfect great-tasting vegetables every time using my al dente cooking method
• Teaching you the healthiest way to roast and grill

Dear Friend of WHFoods,

Are you tired of spending long hours in the kitchen trying to prepare good-for-you foods with little satisfaction? Do you try hard to get your family to eat health-promoting foods but to no avail because they just don't find them appealing? Are your vegetables often mushy and overcooked and your fish and chicken dry and tasteless?

If so, I have great news for you. I will show you how cooking at home can be enjoyable and save you time and money. I have just completed my Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD, which is designed to take all of the guesswork out of cooking. It's easier and faster than you think. No more mushy vegetables. No more tasteless chicken. My methods are quick and easy, and I provide you with detailed instructions so you will have no difficulty getting great tasting dishes every time. You will discover how to make dishes in 5 minutes or less! The new Healthiest Way of Cooking, is based on nutritional science and helps you to minimize nutrient loss while maximizing flavor so you will find your family asking for seconds. My cooking techniques and recipes fulfill your nutritional needs and provide great sensory appeal, helping to make healthy eating both enjoyable and fun.

To purchase, see below.

My name is George Mateljan, and I have created 46 cooking class videos and compiled them onto my Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD to help you easily learn how to cook more healthfully. The video cooking classes, most of which are 5 minutes in length, provide you with over 200 minutes of learning! You will learn very quickly how to use my Healthiest Way of Cooking methods and enjoy the delicious, easy-to-prepare recipes presented in the DVD. In the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD you will learn about:

• Healthy sauté
• Quick Broil
• Healthy Grilling
• Preparing delicious recipes in just 5 minutes
• 10 Rules to make healthy cooking easy
• Preparing:
  • Leafy Green and Cruciferous Vegetables
  • Salad Vegetables
  • Fruits
  • Nuts and Beans
  • Fish and Mean

In this special report I would like to explain why cooking at home is the best thing to do and why eating out is not. Research has shown that those who eat out tend to be heavier than those who prepare more of their meals at home. The average person in the U.S. consumes about one-third of their daily calories away from home (that's about 125 meals a year!) with little knowledge of how much sugar, salt, fat or calories they are consuming. It's simply astonishing that 37 million adults prepare less than one meal at home every week. Inflated portions of foods high in calories and low in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients are common fare when you eat out. It is no wonder that eating out is increasingly associated with weight gain and the U.S. is leading the way in becoming the heaviest nation on earth! Taking these facts into consideration makes eating out very costly from both the perspective of our wallets and our health.

Science is also revealing that not only are foods commonly served in restaurants rich in sugar, fat, and salt but that these ingredients can make you crave these foods even when you are not hungry! And with restaurant meals that can contain over 1,000 calories per dish with little regard for their nutritional content it is not surprising that eating out is associated with weight gain. Therefore, it's no wonder that the Healthiest Way of Cooking at home can even help you lose weight.

Increased awareness of the drawbacks of eating so many prepared meals is a great motivation to cook more of your meals at home. And I have created the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD to help you make cooking at home easy, nutritious, tasty and low in calories. Because eating out is not always the bargain it may seem to be in terms of saving you time and money, not to mention the poor return on your health, I encourage you to cook more of your meals at home using my Healthiest Way of Cooking methods. Preparing your own meals not only saves you time and money, but since you also have control over the quality of the ingredients you use and the method of preparation, you greatly increase their nutritional value as well.

By using the Healthiest Way of Cooking methods found in this DVD you will learn to cook great tasting meals without the unhealthy cooking practices commonly used in many restaurants. These include:

Deglazing meats: Uses the fats and browned/burnt portions left on the bottom of the pan when meats are cooked at high temperature to create sauces for that meat. This not only adds additional fats to the dish but also adds potentially carcinogenic compounds found in the burnt pieces left on the pan.

Blackening: Usually occurs when foods are grilled at temperatures of 450-550°F (232-288°C) and can potentially result in the formation of carcinogenic compounds. Blackening is unhealthy so I discourage you from eating burnt areas on your food.

Deep Frying:A common way to prepare chicken, fish, and some vegetables in oil heated to temperatures of 350-375° F (177-189°C). Oils heated to these high temperatures become rancid and can cause the formation of health-damaging free radicals.

Sauté in Oil:Cooking in a skillet using oil heat to temperatures of up to 500°F (260°C), which can cause the oil to become rancid and the formation of free radicals.

Much of the great flavor of restaurant food can be attributed to the use of some of these cooking methods along with the added fats, salts, and sugar commonly used in their preparation. The Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD will teach you how to avoid the drawbacks associated with eating restaurant and take-out foods without compromising flavor.

Celebrity chefs and TV cooking shows are not the answer to healthy cooking. Following recipes created by celebrity chefs on TV who are often more interested in entertaining you than on promoting health can result in the consumption of foods similar to what you would get when you eat out — foods high in sugar fats, and salt. Alton Brown, the cooking show host and author who lost 50 pounds by avoiding unhealthy foods like French fries, attributes partial responsibility for the fattening of America to celebrity chefs who have become the high priests of the food craze. However, by cooking at home with the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD you will gain all of the benefits of home cooking: great taste and great nutrition while saving yourself both time and money.

Once I realized the benefits and ease of cooking my own meals at home, I now actually find it difficult to eat out. The food I prepare myself in my own kitchen is fresher, tastier, more vibrant in color, and more nutritious. It contains more vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients and fewer calories. I know this because I have selected the nutrient-rich World's Healthiest Foods and prepared them myself. What I discovered for myself I now share with you in my new Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD.

My Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD helps you cook to enjoy meals very differently from what you would get using the old traditional ways of cooking in which food was overcooked, depleted of its nutrients and taste, and then covered in fatty sauces to try to make up for its loss of flavor. It is a way of preparing your meals that combines nutrient retention, great taste, and a minimal number of calories to achieve exceptional health and vitality. And let's face it: no matter how nutritious a food is, no one will eat it if it doesn't taste good so by following the techniques and recipes found in the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD you get the winning combination of great nutrition and great taste!

The Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD will help keep your wallet hefty and your body slim. You save money by enjoying meals eaten at home instead of at a restaurant or take-out. You can save additional money directly by purchasing foods at a lower cost by buying in bulk and at farmers' markets and indirectly by decreasing your susceptibility to the many health conditions associated with obesity and poor nutrition. You save time because my methods make home cooking quick and easy. You can even cook a 4-course meal in 15 minutes by coordinating the preparation of my recipes, most of which take only 5 minutes. For example, start by preparing a tossed green salad and serve with your favorite dressing. Begin preparing my Quick Broiled Salmon recipe, which takes about 7 minutes to cook. While the salmon is cooking prepare my 5-Minute Broccoli and Carrot recipes and steam both vegetables together for 5 minutes. Dinner should be ready in about 15 minutes!

Readers of the WHFoods website and The World's Healthiest Foodsbook are the best critics of my Healthiest Way of Cooking, and their response has been wonderful. They have written me thousands of letters telling me how much they enjoy my cooking methods and recipes, which can be prepared quickly and feature such great taste. They also write about how they and their families have improved their health, increased their energy, improved their memory, and lost weight with the World's Healthiest Foods and my Healthiest Way of Cooking techniques. These letters continue to provide me with the inspiration and motivation to maintain my passionate commitment to creating more new great-tasting, health-promoting recipes.

This is the best book I have ever read. I am learning new things each and every day. I thought I was a good cook and knew how to cook properly, but was I ever wrong. This book is so fascinating and so worth the money. Every day is a new adventure. - Debra

You think you know all about how to prepare your veggies?? You don't. Basic things about your everyday foods. How to prepare to get best of the best, how to store it and what you actually eat. That's the key. - EK

I just wanted to let you know how appreciative I am to have your book. A couple of years ago I gifted some of my closest friends a copy (purchased 6) and they are also very impressed. You have now become my food guru and I find myself opening the book almost daily to check a new recipe. All of the ones I have tried are fantastic. Thanks so much for all of your hard work and for making the information available to me. - Mirayam

This book helped me completely change my eating habits. It has so much great information that I leave it out on my table all the time because I probably refer to it 3 or 4 times a week. It's not a recipe book, although there are a lot of recipes included. It WILL educate you about the best way to cook your foods so that you get the most nutrients from your diet. I was having some problems with indigestion, but this healthy way of cooking has taken care of that problem entirely for me. Also, the healthy way of cooking vegetables is much faster, and I love that! - ST

I'm a big fan of your site. I have been following you recipes for a while and love how creative, tasty and healthy they are. - Hellen

My daughter sent me a link to your website sometime ago as she felt eating better would help a whole slew of medical conditions I have. I just wanted to let you know that day after day, week after week, I receive your recipes and newsletters, frequently using the recipes and always gaining knowledge about food that I never knew. I am eating and feeling better but I feel almost guilty for not having thanked you yet...so thank you. What you give to others is amazing! - Nan

I just had polenta for the first time and I did it using your recipe (almost) for polenta pizza. I decided to put onions, zucchini & mushrooms on top with goat cheese. WOW WOW WOW!! It was wonderful. I am now polenta happy!! Thank you for your information and ideas. I'm so glad you are here. - Kaycie

I LOVE this website and the accompanying book. They are by far the best resources I've ever come across for information on nutrition and cooking. - Angie

I own about 20 cookbooks, as well as books on nutritional healing that include recipes, and this one still stands out from the rest. I love the fact that the author not only tells you what to eat and why you should eat it, but also how to prepare it in such a way as to maximize the nutritional content of the food. Mr. Mateljan's "Healthy sauté " which is his method of sautéing without the use of oil, has changed my life! By the way, all of his cooking methods revolve around the theory that the less you heat your food, the more nutrients it retains, so you will actually save a ton of time spent in the kitchen when you employ his methods. This is SO MUCH MORE than a simple cookbook. For anyone looking to understand more about the foods they consume or to attain better health (not just lose weight, but I mean improve their overall health), be sure to add this to your collection. - RKC

You don't need a long list of ingredients for any of the recipes, and the longest part of preparing any of the meals is cutting up the veggies. I have come to love whole foods more than I thought possible, and I have tried foods I never knew existed. Thank you, George for all your wisdom. - Zeta

Just wanted to thank you again for this really spectacular recipe! My husband requested that I make another batch this week (he virtually never asks for anything specific). Zesty Mexican Soup has everything—healthy protein, lots of vegetables, great flavor—it's so easy and quick to prepare and tastes just as good even 2-3 days later! The recipe made enough that I filled 3 quart jars and put them in our refrigerator. We enjoyed it for lunch or dinner for several days. - AN

Science has found that traditional cooking methods can result in a loss of 50-80% of the nutrients found in food. That means they have lost vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants, fiber, and enzymes; plus, they make vegetables mushy and tasteless. This motivated me to search for alternative ways of cooking so that the health-promoting nutrients found in our food finds their way into our bodies rather than going down the drain. The main culprits in nutrient loss in traditional cooking methods were using high heat for long periods of time and too much water, which leaches out many of the nutrients found in vegetables. My Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD is designed specifically for those who want to enhance the flavor of food while avoiding the pitfalls leading to nutrient loss. You will learn a new style of cooking, which focuses on nourishment as well as satisfying your hunger and enjoyment of food.

Everyone I know is pressed for time; everyone seems to be in a hurry. Since my Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD shows you ways to prepare meals that are quick, easy, and use only a few ingredients I call it a minimalistic approach to cooking because of the minimal amount of time, effort, and money required to cook a nutritious dish. In fact, most of the dishes that make up the 4-course meal I prepare in just 5 minutes using just 3 ingredients! But this minimalist approach doesn't mean you will be sacrificing flavor. On the contrary, the Mediterranean-style dishes that predominate my cooking provide flavors that are full and rich with each having the option to include additional ingredients for even more flavor.

In the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD you will see how important I believe it is to recognize that every food has its own unique characteristics—a combination of its nutritional value, color, and characteristic flavor. I like to refer to this as a food's essence. Because every food is unique I spent 10 years identifying and creating methods to retain the essence of each of the World's Healthiest Foods. In the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD I show you how to enjoy and preserve the essence of food rather than overpowering it with heavy sauces or spices. You will learn techniques that keep food close to their natural state and maintain the purity of their original flavors by not overcooking and altering their nutritional composition in a very significant way. I felt that this element of cooking was so important that I prepared some of the foods over 100 times until I got it right.

Scientific research has shown that minimal cooking time and exposure to heat not only gives you great tasting food but generally retains more nutrients. With the methods used in the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD I make sure there's no guesswork involved. I provide you with you the best cooking temperature (keep in mind every stove is different), cooking time, and cooking methods to use for each one of the World's Healthiest Foods I prepare.

This unique way of cooking provides you with all of the features of great cuisine yet can easily fit into a healthy lifestyle. Incorporating the methods and recipes found in the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD as part of a healthy lifestyle may be one of the most important things you can do to optimize your health and increase your enjoyment of eating more healthfully.

Now I want to share with you what science tells us about unhealthy cooking. I have increasingly become an advocate of avoiding high temperature cooking because virtually all nutrients in food can be damaged from exposure to high heat and long cooking times. Cooking at high heat for long periods of time is also related to the formation of carcinogenic compounds. Vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, fruit, and fish are particularly delicate and quite susceptible to the effects of high cooking temperatures. Substantial nutrient loss occurs when ovens reach temperatures from 250-450°F (121-232°C) and cooking methods such as grilling can reach temperatures as high as 500-1000°F (260-538°C), causing the formation of cancer-promoting compounds, which can damage your health. That's why the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD provides you with the best low temperature cooking methods to use for all of the different foods featured.

Restaurant and other prepared foods are commonly cooked using high temperatures, which can form unhealthy constituents such as acrylamides — formed when carbohydrates are cooked for a long time at high temperatures; this is yet another good reason to follow my Healthiest Way of Cooking methods featured in the DVD and cook more of your meals at home. Nerve-damaging acrylamides are created at 242°F (117°C) or higher when foods are fried, roasted, or baked. Common foods such as breakfast cereal, roasted nuts, bread, chips, and French fries can contain acrylamides. Acrylamides are also created in dairy, meat, and fish products when they are exposed to high temperatures, although in somewhat lower amounts. The boiling and steaming methods I recommend do not typically create this compound.

Other carcinogenic compounds created when meat, fish and poultry are cooked at high temperatures include:

• Heterocyclic amines (HAs). These mutagenic agents form in meat when temperatures reach 392°F (200°C) and above. The creation of these chemicals can be avoided by cooking meats at lower temperatures through using my Healthiest Way of Cooking methods, such as Quick Broil, Healthy sauté, Healthy Steaming, and Quick Boiling, and using marinades made of garlic, onions, lemon juice, and rosemary, all of which may help inhibit the formation of HAs. The key factor here is the high temperature—without it HAs do not form.
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are another class of mutagens, created when fats released from meat cooking at high temperatures drip down to heat sources — 151 to 526 parts per billion for chicken, pork, BBQ beef.

Scientific studies also show that cooking with oil at high temperatures is unhealthy. In my Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD I show you how to avoid damage to the nutrients in delicate oils, which are easily damaged by high-heat cooking and prevent the formation of carcinogenic compounds, which can form when they are heated to high temperatures. Although some oils can withstand high temperatures better than others, I prefer not to expose oils to high heat if there is a low-heat or no-heat alternative. That's why in this DVD I share with you my Healthy sauté method of cooking vegetables, which is designed to avoid heating of vegetable oils. I use chicken or vegetable broth instead of vegetable oil during cooking and then add oil to the dish after the food is removed from the heat. You can enjoy much more flavor from the oil using this method because it has not become oxidized by heat. I sold over one million copies of my Cooking Without Fatbook which used a very similar cooking method.

In the DVD you will find that extra virgin olive oil is my oil of choice to use in recipes (but not in cooking), and it deserves special mention here because information about olive oil's smoke point—the point at which it begins to smoke because the heat is higher than it can withstand—can be very confusing and inconsistent. For example manufacturers of extra virgin olive oil—the most nutrient-rich type of olive oil from the very first pressing— list its smoke point as low as 200°F (93° C) and as high as 406°F (208°C)! In general, I believe that the lower limit of this range, somewhere between 200-250°F (93-121°C), is most likely the upper limit for safe heating of extra virgin olive oil without excessive damage to the oil. So, it's a good idea to avoid using extra virgin olive oil in products baked in the oven at 350°F (177°C) or for a stir-fry or sauté on the stove top.

In the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD you will learn that by adding extra virgin olive oil to vegetables (or soups and sauces) after they are cooked you can avoid exposing it to high heat and retain more of its health-promoting nutrients. You will also see how it allows you to enjoy more of the oil's natural rich flavor.

My approach to the Healthiest Way of Cooking consists of 4 easy steps designed to help you learn how to prepare each of the World's Healthiest Foods featured on the DVD quickly and easily. These steps include selecting the freshest foods, storing them to retain their nutritional value, preparing them properly to cook more quickly and evenly, and cooking them using low temperatures and quick cooking times. Each step plays an important role in making your finished dish one that contains the maximum number of nutrients and provide you with great flavor.

In the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD you will learn that the Healthiest Way of Cooking begins with the selection of nutrient-rich foods, which have the greatest number of nutrients for the least number of calories — foods like the World's Healthiest Foods that are familiar, affordable, and readily available.

I have found that knowledge is the key to healthier eating: knowledge of the nutritional composition of foods (available on the WHFoods.org website and in The World's Healthiest Foods book) is essential for knowing which foods are nutrient-rich and concentrated sources of specific nutrients. My mission in this DVD is to share with you the knowledge I have accumulated over the past 10 years, to help you eat healthier, great tasting food, while nourishing your body to the fullest — all with the least amount of time spent in the kitchen. While you can find the best way to select each of the foods featured in the DVD, I want to include some overview selection tips here:

Select foods that are in season and are locally grown

I am so excited about the increasing popularity of farmers' markets because the food is locally grown. They are great places to get the freshest food for a great deal so that cooking at home becomes a delicious and money-saving adventure. Foods selected in the season in which they have grown have been found to contain higher levels of nutrients. For example, researchers found a three-fold difference in the vitamin C content of spinach when they compared crops harvested at the peak of their season to those grown out of season.

And because seasonal, locally grown foods have not been transported over long distances, when you buy local you are also supporting the reduction of the carbon footprint created by the use of fossil fuels in food distribution.

Every week the Food of the Week on the website (www.whfoods.org) and our Weekly E-Newsletter features a food in season.

Select fruits that are ripe

I have had the opportunity to enjoy some of the best fruits in the world, but no matter what the fruit or where in the world I was eating it, the one thing they all had in common was that they were picked as close as possible to being fully ripe. The key to purchasing the best fruit is to purchase either locally grown fruit or fruit that is at the peak of its season. Ripe fruits not only are the sweetest and have the best flavor but are at their nutritional peak.

Purchase organically grown foods whenever possible

I have long been a strong proponent of purchasing organically grown fruits and vegetables whenever possible. Organic produce is grown without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Organic meats and poultry do not contain the antibiotics and hormones found in conventionally produced products. With organically grown foods, you not only avoid the harmful chemicals, you also enjoy greater nutrition and flavor!

While locally grown fruits and vegetables may not always be certified organic, they are often grown without the use of pesticides and are a great choice for this reason. It's always good to ask the farmer about how they were grown when you purchase your food.

If it is not possible for you to purchase all organically grown foods, I suggest using the "Dirty Dozen" to help you decide which of the produce you purchase should be organically grown. The Dirty Dozen is a list of the 12 foods (fruits and vegetables) which have been found to contain the highest level of pesticide residues when they are conventionally grown.

After purchasing fresh, nutrient-rich foods it is important to store them properly to help retain their maximum nutritional value and freshness. You can lose up to 20% of your foods' nutrients if they are not stored properly!

Individual fruits, vegetables, and various meats and fish each vary in the way they are best stored. For example, while I refrigerate most of my vegetables and fruits I do not refrigerate garlic and onions, and I have also found that tomatoes and pineapples taste best when kept at room temperature.

Storing your vegetables in plastic bags from which all excess air has been expelled will help increase the vegetables' life span, and it is best to store fish on ice in your refrigerator to keep it fresher for a longer period of time. You can find the best way to store each of the foods featured in the DVD.

The Healthiest Way of Cooking uses techniques that science has found to enhance and retain the nutritional value of individual foods. I show you how by properly preparing foods you can help to retain the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients found in vegetables and fruits and the healthy fats in nuts and seeds.

Some preparation techniques actually enhance a food's nutritional value. Studies have found that certain vegetables release extra health-promoting compounds when they are cut. These include the allium family vegetables — such as onions, leeks and garlic—and those in the cruciferous family—which includes cabbage, kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and collard greens. In the DVD you learn that by cutting these vegetables and letting them sit from 5-10 minutes before cooking, you will enjoy unique health-promoting benefits.

Other preparation practices can delete nutrients from food. I have seen friends soak vegetables for a long period of time as a means to clean them until the water starts to turn green, reflecting a loss in chlorophyll. Studies have also found that soaking vegetables can result in loss of 20-30% of their water-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins B and C, so I recommend rinsing them under clean running water instead.

The last step of the Healthiest Way of Cooking is the actual cooking of the food in ways that accommodate our desire for healthy eating while leading a busy lifestyle. That means preparing food to retain the maximum number of the beneficial vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients found in food in a minimal amount of time and also enhance its flavor. It means preparing foods in pots and pans made of non-reactive materials (I recommend stainless steel) and avoiding unhealthy Teflon™ and aluminum cookware whenever possible.

We have been told since we were children to eat our vegetables, and now we have the scientific knowledge that explains why this is such a good idea. Vegetables are the best providers of the health-promoting, water-soluble vitamins that we need every day, so I pay special attention to the preparation of vegetables in the Healthiest Way of Cooking. Unlike the fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, and E), which our bodies can store for future use, the water-soluble vitamins (the B vitamins and vitamin C) can only be stored in minute amounts or not at all. Since these vitamins are essential to our health, but cannot be produced by the body and can only be obtained from food we eat, we must consume the foods that provide them daily. And if we don't properly prepare the vegetables that contain these nutrients, we can lose most of them.

In the DVD I place great emphasis on the cooking of vegetables because they are delicate, and improper cooking methods can have the greatest impact on their flavor and nutrient retention. Perhaps the delicacy of vegetables is why people find them difficult to cook and may even be intimidated by their preparation. Vegetables have traditionally been cooked until they are soft and mushy, which means they have been overcooked and depleted of much of their natural endowment of nutrients, as well as their beautiful vibrant colors. The result is tasteless, unappetizing vegetables that no one wants to eat because they don't appeal to our senses of sight, smell, or taste.

My special way to cook vegetables is to prepare them al dente. Cooking vegetables al dente retains their maximum number of nutrients and flavor as well as their visual appeal. I believe you will truly enjoy the natural taste and innate energy that comes from selecting fresh vegetables and cooking them properly.

My al dente method of cooking vegetables actually arose from learning how to cook pasta! Al dente usually refers to cooking pasta to perfection, which I learned when studying classic Italian cuisine in Florence with world famous chef Guiliano Bugialli. It was from my experience there that I became inspired to transfer this concept of al dente to vegetables. I truly believe sharing with you how to prepare vegetables al dente in this Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD may be one of the most valuable gifts you will receive when it comes to eating delicious foods that are good for your health. My al dente cooking method produces cooked vegetables so vibrant in color, so fresh and crispy, and so alive with natural flavor that everybody loves them—even children and people "who don't like vegetables" love vegetables cooked al dente.

Through this DVD, you will learn how to retain the wonderfully distinctive flavor of each vegetable by recognizing the unique personality of each and by accentuating and intensifying its essence. Al dente cooking preserves the essence of the vegetables because they are cooked for a short time using low heat. When cooked al dente, they remain colorful with more of their natural enzymes and most of their nutrients intact. Cooking vegetables al dente softens their outer surface, while the inside remains crisp and flavorful. No mushy, flavorless vegetables here! Nutrient and enzyme retention also means easier digestion and assimilation of nutrients.

When it comes to the Healthiest Way of Cooking, consistency is the key. In this DVD I share with you how to prepare vegetables so they come out looking and tasting great every time. As I mentioned earlier, traditional ways of cooking can deplete many of the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants from food. All of my cooking methods are based on scientific knowledge. Within the last few years, researchers have discovered the benefits of short cooking times using lower temperatures; al dente cooking takes this information into consideration, providing a 21st century means to cook vibrantly colored vegetables and eat healthfully.

With traditional cooking methods your vegetables were generally overcooked. You just have to take one look at overcooked vegetables to see that they have lost nutrients. The bright green color of the chlorophyll in leafy green vegetables turns a dull gray/green, almost brownish, color reflecting the chemical changes that occur within the vegetables. Hydrogen is formed and magnesium (as well as other nutrients) are lost. Not only does overcooking result in loss of color but it also creates the sulfur-rotten egg smell that comes when cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage are cooked for too long.

With the loss of color and the development of unpleasing smells, overcooked vegetables do not have much sensory appeal, which then makes them unappetizing to our palate. This may be the reason that children, who are particularly sensitive to sensory input, often do not like vegetables. With my al dente cooking methods, your vegetables look beautiful, and you will never experience unpleasant odors. And every vegetable will be cooked to perfection, every time. I believe with my al dente method of cooking that vegetables may become one of your favorite foods.

Healthy Sautéing and Healthy Steaming vegetables are two methods you will learn about in the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD for preparing vegetables al dente. Most vegetables are cooked for only a period of 5 minutes for minimum nutrient loss and maximum color retention. I highly recommend using a timer because even when using my Healthiest Way of Cooking methods cooking vegetables for just 2-3 minutes longer than directed will result in overcooked vegetables with unappealing color, flavor, and texture.

Some people think that vegetables provide the most nutrients when eaten raw, but we do not have to eat them raw to enjoy their nutritional value. In fact, some vegetables provide more of some nutrients when they are lightly cooked. Exposure to heat can actually increase the availability of nutrients found in some vegetables. For example, when carrots are cooked, the availability of their beta-carotene increases by 40%. Cooking also increases the availability of lycopene in tomatoes. And you can further improve absorption of the fat-soluble carotenoids, beta-carotene and lycopene, in both carrots and tomatoes by combining them with olive oil.

In Paris, France, at the La Varenne School of Cooking, I studied with chefs who taught lighter nouvelle cuisine, which used the traditional sauté method of cooking with oils at high temperatures. In developing a healthier way to cook vegetables, I transformed the old traditional sauté method into my Healthy Sauté, which cooks vegetables at low temperatures and uses broth instead of heated oils.

In the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD you will learn that Healthy sauté has the benefits of three cooking methods in one. It is like a sauté that uses vegetable or chicken broth. It is like a stir-fry, which brings out the robust flavor of foods but cooks them at lower temperature. And it is like steaming because it uses moisture to soften the fibers of the vegetables, which improves their digestibility.

In this DVD you will learn which vegetables are best prepared by Healthy Sautéeing. Healthy Sauté is a great method to use for vegetables such as cauliflower, which is often boiled. Boiling or steaming cauliflower causes it to get watery and lose its natural flavor; it also tends to become too soft. Traditionally, boiled cauliflower was served with heavy sauces to give it flavor. With Healthy Sautéed cauliflower, you will enjoy its naturally sweet flavor, so heavy fattening sauces become unnecessary. I love to sprinkle the florets with turmeric for extra flavor, visual appeal, and added nutrition. Each of my recipes includes a list of optional ingredients to enhance the flavor of the vegetable. For example you can toss cauliflower with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, cilantro, cashews, Parmesan cheese, or serve it with chutney. Friends always ask for seconds (and sometimes thirds!) when I serve my cauliflower.

In the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD you will learn what vegetables are best Healthy Steamed to retain nutrients and flavor. You may think of steaming as a high-heat way of cooking, but in comparison to most other ways, it isn't. Boiling was a traditional way of preparing many vegetables. We now know that steaming is a much better alternative to avoid nutrient loss since the food is surrounded by water dispersed in the air, rather than being completely submerged in water. For example, studies have found that steamed broccoli has greater nutritional value than boiled broccoli. The decreased contact of water with the surface of the food results in decreased nutrient loss, making steaming one of the best ways to prepare most vegetables.

This DVD shows you that slicing or chopping vegetables evenly into sufficiently small pieces when steaming helps them to cook more quickly and makes them more tender and tasty in much less time. Even butternut squash can be steamed to perfection in about 7 minutes!

There are only three vegetables I recommend to boil because of their concentration of oxalic acid. In the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD you will find that these include spinach, beet greens, and Swiss chard. Boiling for just 1-3 minutes helps remove some of their oxalic acid and making them taste sweeter while still retaining most of the nutrients in these vegetables. I also recommend boiling them uncovered, which helps even more of the oxalic acid to escape through the vapors.

In order for people to enjoy more vegetables they have to be as delicious as they are nutritious. In the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD I show you how to make vegetables so enjoyable your family will be asking for more. I like to toss vegetables with my Mediterranean Dressing and serve with a variety of optional ingredients. For example, pasta alone has little flavor and therefore people usually use rich tomato sauce, basil, and Parmesan cheese to enrich its flavor. Like pasta, you can enrich the taste of vegetables by adding some of your favorite spices, nuts, cheeses, olives, and other ingredients to make them more exciting and special. These additions are often what will help make vegetables a favorite part of your Healthiest Way of Eating.

While I feel vegetables play a central role on our Healthiest Way of Eating journey, we also need to add other foods to our menu to fulfill our nutritional needs and enjoy optimal health. Proper preparation of fruits, fish, meats and poultry, and nuts and seeds are also part of what you will learn from the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD.

While fruits are more often enjoyed raw and are thus less often the victims of overcooking, they do lose both nutrients and flavor when baked or cooked for more than a brief time. Mediterranean-style desserts consist mostly of fresh uncooked fruits. Fresh ripe, raw fruits provide digestive enzymes as well as help to satisfy our sweet tooth. As most everyone enjoys a special treat at the end of a meal, I have included no-bake fruit recipes in the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD that turn raw fruits into delectable desserts.

For animal foods, cooking temperatures and duration are associated with food safety and elimination of potentially disease-causing bacteria. To be safe, meat, fish, and poultry need to be cooked to reach an interior temperature of 165°F (74°C). However, cooking at high temperatures can cause the production of unhealthy byproducts. As I mentioned earlier, high temperatures not only destroy beneficial nutrients but can also lead to the formation of harmful carcinogenic compounds. (See "Avoiding High Temperature Cooking and Carcinogenic Compounds" above.)

In the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD I share with you my Quick Broil method of cooking meat and fish that gives you the best flavor by retaining their natural juices and moisture; it is also especially quick because you broil from both sides at the same time. Cooking from both sides also helps seal in the juices. Quick broil is a bonus in the summer months when we want to avoid overheating the kitchen. Place the oven rack right under the broiler when you quick broil fish. For meat or chicken, place the rack down closer to the middle of the broiler, so the top of the meat doesn't burn before the meat is cooked all the way through.

Since the meat, chicken, or fish cooks rapidly from both sides when you quick broil it is not necessary to turn it over. As it will be done very quickly, I find it's best to set your timer. For fish, the cooking time can be as quick as 3-5 minutes, depending on the thickness. Chicken can be cooked in as little as 15 minutes. Leaving the skin on the breast helps to keep it nice and juicy while cooking; simply remove the skin before eating. Meat, such as lamb chops, will cook in 10 minutes.

While grilling does create foods that have a unique flavor and texture, and is virtually synonymous with summertime, I do have some concerns about it because of its high temperature. Yet, by taking certain precautions and using specific methods, you can enjoy grilled foods while also enjoying your health.

Here are some basic Healthy Grilling tips:

• Place the food on an area of the grill where it will not be exposed to a direct flame. Heterocyclic amines (HAs, discussed earlier in the copy) form most easily at high temperatures and when a food is in very close proximity to a heat source. As it turns out, the temperatures directly above or below the flame can reach as high as 500-1000°F (260-538°C). Under 325°F (163°C), the formation of these compounds is very low. As temperatures increase above 400°F (204°C), the formation of HAs can increase by 700%-1000%.
• Grill your food for the least amount of time it takes for it to be thoroughly cooked. That's because the longer a food is exposed to high heat, the greater the HA formation. When a food such as a hamburger is grilled for 10 rather than 6 minutes, for example, the HA levels in the hamburger may increase by 25-30%.
• If a part of your food gets burnt or blackened from grilling, don't eat it. This is a way to reduce your exposure to harmful compounds.
• Marinate your foods in protective antioxidant-containing ingredients — such as rosemary, citrus fruits, and green tea — which may help reduce HA levels. Additionally, if you are going to brush the foods with oil, use one that has a high-smoke point, such as avocado oil or high-oleic safflower oil, to help lower the extent of oxidative damage to the oil itself.

In the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD you will learn how you can safely roast nuts and seeds at low temperature to bring out their flavor and sweetness. Typically this means using an oven set at 160°-170°F/71°-77°C (at higher temperatures than this, research clearly shows damage to their delicate fats) for 15-20 minutes will do the trick. Place nuts or seeds on a cookie sheet in a single layer. To enhance the "roasted" flavor, try putting a little tamari (soy sauce) into a spray bottle and misting them before roasting. Because many seeds are imported (for example, pumpkin seeds), it is important to roast them to reduce contaminants.

I avoid nuts and seeds that have been roasted commercially because they are roasted at high temperatures—temperatures higher than 350-500°F (170°C) — which can damage their fat content and result in the formation of free radicals. These free radicals can damage the fats — such as cholesterol in your bloodstream. This process, called lipid peroxidation, can trigger tiny injuries in artery walls—a first step in the buildup of plaque inside blood vessels, which leads to cardiovascular disease.

I hope you will join me in learning about my Healthiest Way of Cookingtechniques. I believe they can help change your life and lifestyle. By selecting nutrient-rich foods and preparing them using my healthy cooking methods, you will begin to enjoy eating more of your meals at home and save yourself both time and money. Science tells us cooking more of your meals at home will help keep you slim and healthy. And because cooking at home will save you money, not only will you benefit healthwise, but your pocketbook will thank you as well.

In Good Health,
George Mateljan

George Mateljan has had a lifelong interest in food and cooking. From the time he was five years old, his favorite room in the house was the kitchen, where he watched as his mother lovingly spent hours preparing meals for the family. He loved watching a bowl full of ingredients transformed into dough that rose as if by magic and learned to appreciate the way each season brought forth its own special foods, especially fruits and vegetables.

From these early beginnings George has become a world expert in healthy cooking and eating and has shared his knowledge of how to optimize health through his founding of Healthy Valley Foods, the WHFoods.org website (which comes up #1 on a Google search for "Healthiest Foods" and "Healthiest Recipes"), and the publication of his six best-selling books. His latest book, The World's Healthiest Foods, won the National Best Book Award in 2007.

George's passion for food sent him to 80 different countries to learn from cultures renowned for their health and longevity about the foods that were among the World's Healthiest. His education in biochemistry helped him understand more clearly what he learned through his personal observations and experiences, as well as from his advanced training in cooking. George first studied Italian cooking at Giuliano Bugialli's cooking school in Florence and French cuisine at the renowned La Varenne cooking school near Paris; he later refined his skills at Gourmet's Oxford in England.

His awareness of how preparation can affect the innate health-promoting nutrients and taste of food led to one of George's biggest accomplishment — the development of the Healthiest Way of Cooking, including his Healthy Sauté and Quick Broil cooking methods. Because George also realized that no matter how healthy you make a food people won't eat it if it doesn't taste good, he also spent years testing his methods to create recipes that taste great.

In the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD, George covers the entire spectrum of healthy cooking. While he includes meat, poultry, fish, beans, nuts and seeds, and fruits, his primary emphasis is placed on cooking vegetables al dente. In the Healthiest Way of Cooking you will find how to prepare al dente vegetables with flavor that will amaze you, preparation methods for innovative vegetable dishes you will enjoy. George's cooking style focuses on retaining the essence and authenticity of each of the vegetables he prepares. His short cooking times using lower cooking temperatures assure that you never experience the smell, drab color, and mushy texture associated with overcooked vegetables. And since oils are never heated in his recipes you don't have to worry about the formation of unhealthy compounds that could be otherwise created. In this DVD George launches a new revolution of healthy cooking to help you enjoy more vegetables—one of the best foods to keep you healthy and slim.

Other books by George include:

• The World's Healthiest Foods
• 300 Secrets e-book
• Healthy Weight Loss —Without Dietinge-book
• Cooking Without Fat
• Baking Without Fat
• Healthy Living Cuisine
• Healthier Eating Guide
• Natural Foods Cookbook

In the Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD I teach you how to prepare individual foods that have great taste, provide great nutrition, and can be prepared in a matter of minutes. This DVD collection is not available in stores or through any other offer. You can currently only get this exclusively video through our website.

The high-resolution DVD includes 46 video cooking classes, most of which are 5 minutes in length—over 200 minutes of learning! It is organized so you can readily go through and choose the World's Healthiest Food you want to cook and immediately learn how to turn it into a delicious nutritious dish. And unlike the one-time experience of a regular cooking class you will have this as a reference forever with the ability to refer to it as many times as you would like. And it costs just a fraction of the price of a cooking class.

The 84-page Healthiest Way of Cooking cookbook provides you with more details about the cooking methods and recipes than are presented in the DVD. You will also find supplementary information including the 10 Rules about healthy cooking, how to quick broil and healthy grill, and the reasons why high temperature cooking is not good for your health.

Below is the Table of Contents, which conveys the broad spectrum of cooking topics covered in this DVD:

Leafy Green		Brussels Sprouts
Cruciferous Vegetables		Cauliflower
Bok Choy		Cabbage
Broccoli		Collard Greens
Kale		Onions
Spinach		Sea Vegetables
Salad Vegetables		Summer Squash
Tomatoes		Winter Squash
Baby Spinach		Fruits
Cucumbers		Apples
Romaine Lettuce		Blueberries
Napa Cabbage		Cranberries
Avocado		Grapes
Root Vegetables		Strawberries
Beets		Nuts and Beans
Carrots		Garbanzo Beans
Sweet Potatoes		Walnuts
Other Vegetables		Fish and Meat
Asparagus		Salmon
Bell Peppers		Lamb
Corn		Turkey
Crimini Mushrooms		Cooking
Garlic		Healthy Sauté
Green Beans		Healthy Steaming
Green Peas		Quick Broil
Olives		Purée

With the DVD I will become your personal chef and teach you how to prepare good-for-you foods that taste great every time you make them. Since the DVD is not a streaming video from the web, you don't have to worry about Internet connectivity issues; it makes learning how to cook easy as you can watch it on your kitchen TV or bring your laptop into the kitchen. You can watch me in a crystal clear video presentation teaching you my Healthiest Way of Cooking.

Because I am confident that you can become an expert in the Healthiest Way of Cooking by cooking one recipe per day for 30 days by watching the DVD (I recommend starting with vegetables), I am offering you a 30-day 100% money back guarantee. Watch the DVD for 30 days and if you haven't learn the Healthiest Way of Cooking by the end of that time, or do not enjoy the DVD, I promise you a full refund with return of the DVD.

The DVD will be shipped to you in approximately 10 days. They are not in electronic form to download.

100% Unconditional Guarantee—Risk Free

Enjoy discovering all of the health-promoting benefits of the Healthiest Way of Cooking. Keep this DVD for 30 days and try the foods, recipes, and the al dente cooking method. You will learn how to Healthy Sauté, Healthy Steam, Quick Broil, Healthy Purée, and Healthy Grill. And you will not believe how great cabbage, kale, and cauliflower and other vegetables can taste prepared using my innovative methods; their rich flavor will be a pure surprise. The DVD helps you to learn about the Healthiest Way of Cooking easily and quickly. With my 100% money-back guarantee you have nothing to lose and everything to gain while enjoying great tasting, nutritious food for less money.

Free Gift #1 Free Lifetime membership to the Healthiest Way of Cooking Club to learn more about how the Healthiest Way of Cooking can maximize nutrition and taste and save you time and money. Valued at $20.00

Free Gift #2 Free Shipping and Handling valued at $6.95

Special Note:

Try my new Healthiest Way of Cooking DVD and share what you learn with your friends. Together we can help make this a healthier world by taking up the cause of Healthy Eating.

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By purchasing the DVD you are directly supporting the George Mateljan Foundation to help conduct further research about the Healthiest Way of Cooking and Eating.