How to cook healthy with BEER: Replace oil with ale when cooking it has nearly HALF the calories
Beer has around 75 calories per tablespoon while oil has up to 120 calories
Food fans suggest braising your meat in dark beer to enhance the flavour
Nutrition expert says it can be a healthier alternative
Source: Daily Mail
By Natalie Corner
28 December 2016
Beer may not be the first ingredient you reach for when you’re looking to whip up a healthy meal but that might be about to change.
Cooking with beer has become quite the trend, with recipes such as ‘beer can chicken’ and even putting dark ale in chocolate cake.
Now, according to one nutrition expert, replacing oil with beer in your dish effectively contains less calories.
Toby Amidor, a registered dietician and author of recipe book The Greek Yogurt Kitchen, says that beer can be considered a healthier alternative.
Speaking to Self Magazine, she explained: ‘Oil is about 120 calories per tablespoon, while 12 fluid ounces of a standard beer with 5% alcohol by volume is 146 calories. When cooking with beer, it helps add flavor and depending on the heat and amount of time the food is exposed to the heat, a portion of those calories will dissipate.’
She goes on to explain that beer can actually boost your health because it is packed with B vitamins, magnesium, phosphorus and selenium.
And while binge-drinking is known to harm our health, moderate consumption of the beverage has been proven to reduce the risk of heart disease.
As well as claims from the University of Pennsylvania that with moderation dark ale or stout can protect you from heart attacks, beer can also strengthen your bones because it contains silicon which can help promote growth.
If you’re not looking to add a pint or two to your daily intake then cooking with beer could be a much more acceptable alternative.
Adding a can into your chicken and placing it in an upright position to cook will mean the liquid will evaporate and help the bird stay moist and juicy and stop it from drying out.
Braise your meat with dark ale instead of wine or add it to chilli, stew or even your homemade burgers to give it a rich, dark flavour.
While a chocolate cake isn’t a healthy option, adding beer to your mixture will make it taste delicious and a dollop of cream on top will look just like a pint of Guinness.