Spaghetti squash is a summer squash that resembles the popular pasta when cooked, with the inner flesh coming out in strings that look like noodles. It's a good alternative to pasta, particularly if you're cutting back on refined grains.

Your selected cooking method affects the taste and texture of food, whether you're working with meat, vegetables or another favorite food. Most foods work with any of the cooking methods, although certain foods are more compatible with one or two ways of cooking.

Ham is a specific cut of meat that comes from pigs. The meat is usually sold cooked or cured, but can be found in raw form as well. Ham is popular for use in sandwiches and also for roasting in an oven. Roasting hams are usually for gatherings or celebrations because they can feed several people.

Whether you grill or broil your sirloin steak, marinating it prior to cooking makes the meat more tender and flavorful. Marinades are mixtures of oil, spices and acidic ingredients like vinegar, wine or lemon juice. The acids in the marinade break down the meat tissue, resulting in meat that is tender.

Defrosting ground beef in the refrigerator is a timely process that takes a minimum of 24 hours for every 5 pounds of meat. If your meat isn't thawed and you're trying to get dinner on the table, take a shortcut by cooking the partially thawed hamburger meat.

Ground pork is a versatile ingredient that can be used to prepare many different recipes, including meat loaf, meat balls or soft tacos. It is important to fully cook pork because the raw meat can be contaminated with bacteria that may lead to a serious case of food poisoning or other foodborne illness.

Slow cooking is a great method of cooking when you want a hot, delicious dinner without a lot of work. Preparation time is minimal and it allows you to go about your daily business while your dinner is cooking. Lamb is a nutritional meat, high in zinc and iron.

You might have heard the old adage that you cannot cook meat in the microwave. Not only is this not true, but sometimes it is just necessary. When you are traveling, for example, and you would like to enjoy a juicy steak, you may have no choice but to microwave your minute steak.

A rump roast doesn't have much fat, but the little fat it does have offers much- needed moisture and flavor. Rump roast is so lean that it's often larded with extra fat in restaurants. Cook it with the fat side up so the juices can melt and penetrate the meat, similar to basting a turkey or chicken as it roasts.

Although frozen meatloaf is widely available in supermarkets, making and freezing it yourself allows you to avoid preservatives and control the meatloaf's fat and salt content. Line your loaf pans with plastic wrap before you press the meat into them. Lift the plastic to remove the meatloaf before you freeze it.

You can prepare veal shanks and cutlets, the two most common cuts of veal, in many ways, including grilling, pan-frying and broiling. But few preparations are simpler than baking veal in the oven. Baking veal in the oven also helps to preserve the meat's natural flavor without altering the texture.

Oven bag cooking offers a way to keep the meat moist as it roasts without all the cleanup. The bag holds the moisture in as the pork cooks to provide natural and effortless basting. Any pork cut that you cook in the oven should work well in a bagged environment.