Steaming veg vs. boiling veg.....

[Bernard]

We all know that steaming veg retains alot of the nutrients, but how many of us on the Cathe forum do so, as opposed to other methods ?

And if you steam, what do you use to steam your veggies ?

Thanks

Anna

 

[Bernard]

BTW, before everyone answers 'water' to my last question, I meant by what method ? :7 For example, one of those tiered electrical gadgets, or in a good old stainless steel saucepan type thing with holes, or in the microwave ?

Anna :7

 

[wutherhi]

I steam vegetables in a two-tiered, electric vegetable steamers. We used our old one so much, we wore it out and had to get a bigger one. We especially like to steam a big batch of carrots, broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, onions, and new potatoes until they're just a little this side of crunchy. Then we throw them in a scorching hot iron skillet with some mushrooms and a little Pam. Mmmmm. Almost like grilled vegetables.

 

[kristi]

My veggies are steamed in the microwave. I'm a convenience kind of gal and it only takes about 10 minutes to steam them with very little clean up. The container is also dishwasher safe. However, I used to steam my veggies with my electric steamer, but it was too much of a hassle to get it out of the cabinet. Also, I have not noticed any difference in taste from steaming in the microwave.

 

[Bernard]

Thanks for that - though I am just wondering how easy the tiered steaming gadgets are to clean ?

Anna

 

[mogambo]

I always use the steaming water a couple of times too, and ultimately it ends up as part of soup stock, or the water used to make mashed potatoes. This adds both nutrients and flavor.

 

[paidhi]

If you don't have a steamer, a simple way to do it is to put some water in a pot to boil. When the water is boiling, place a colander with your vegetables on top of the pot and cover it.
It takes a couple of minutes to steam the veg.
Make sure there's room for some steam to escape though - you don't want the "pressure cooker" effect

Lisa

 

[kathryn]

For steaming, I use a collapsible metal steamer that I've had for years. I also have one of those electric steamers with a timer, but I primarily use it for steaming rice.

I primarily steam veggies, but I also like to "stir fry" without using oil (which I suppose would be called something else!) Instead of using water for this, I use cooking sherry, which gives a mouth feel that more closely ressembles oil. Sometimes I mix in a little olive oil, but pretty sparingly. I've also used apple juice for this (usually thinned with a bit of water), depending on what flavor I'm going for. Other cooking wines work also.

 

[KayM]

Anna - the steamers are very easy to clean, AS LONG AS you rinse it out as soon as you take the veggies out. If not, you'll have little flakes of broccoli and what-not on there for a while.

I use a steamer that's just like a pan only with holes in the bottom - I set that on top of a regular pan with water in it to steam.

I don't like microwave steaming because in my opinion it makes the veggies kind of tough on the outside.

We eat steamed veggies almost every day, usually cauliflower and broccoli and occasionally carrots. I add a little Vegetable Magic spice (it has lots of salt in it, but I just use a little bit) to the top of the steamed veggies and they are delicious!!