- Ingredients
- Procedure
- Allergens
Steamed Vegetable Recipes
A very healthy way to prepare our vegetables is to steam them. This technique consists of cook vegetables using steam which releases boiling water without direct contact. As we will see, this type of preparation provides many benefits and we can also prepare exquisite dishes that will not leave anyone indifferent.
Using this cooking technique from the vapors given off by the vegetables is very healthy since it is not necessary to add oil, reducing the number of calories in the recipe . In addition, this cooking technique maintains the properties of the food unlike others that eliminate many benefits of the ingredients.
To prepare delicious steamed vegetables you don't need to be an experienced chef, but it is important know some keys so that the final results are the best . For example, each vegetable has a specific cooking time so we cannot treat all vegetables the same. The type of cut is also important to get the most out of cooking. We will tell you all this and more in this publication so that you can master this recipe like no one else.
Many people think that it is essential to have a good steamer to steam vegetables. However, We can also prepare them without having a steamer. .
There are many other options, such as using a container, plastic wrap and microwave.
You want to know more? Stay and we will teach you all the tricks so you can prepare the best steamed vegetables!
Don't you have any ingredients? Here are other similar recipes
Ingredients
How to steam vegetables without a steamer
- We take the head of the broccoli and put it under the pick, pouring a good jet of water on it to remove all the particles of soil and other products that it may contain. We cut the broccoli leaves and remove the lower florets (structures that come out of the stem). Finally, we cut off the upper florets and keep the florets.
- We wash the cauliflower thoroughly and cut it into small pieces, also leaving the florets (similar to how we prepared the broccoli).
- We wash the remaining vegetables, the peppers, zucchini, eggplant, carrots and asparagus, and cut each one into its specific shape.
- We can steam without a steamer and without special pots. We simply have to take any saucepan, put water in it, and then put a strainer on top, making sure it does not touch the water.
- Bring the water to a boil and cover the pot, letting the vegetables cook for about 10-15 minutes.
- We are checking the vegetables, pricking them and seeing if they are to our liking.
- We take out the vegetables, season with salt and pepper to our liking and serve.
How to steam vegetables without a steamer using a microwave
- To steam vegetables without using a steamer, we will use the washing water itself and the microwave for cooking. To start, we have to cut the vegetables. Remember not to dry the vegetables since we will use the washing water to steam them.
- We wash the broccoli (do not dry), remove the lower florets and cut the upper florets, leaving the florets.
- We wash the cauliflower and cut it as we did with the broccoli, also keeping the florets. Remember not to dry them. We reserve.
- Next we open the peppers, remove the seeds from inside and cut them into strips.
- We take the zucchini and carrots. We peel both vegetables and cut them into slices.
- We cut the eggplant into slices. We only need to cut the bottom part of the asparagus.
- Once we have all the vegetables cut and moist from the washing water, we have two options. We can use a steam case or we can take a kitchen container, put the vegetables inside and cover the container with film (to prevent the water vapors from escaping).
- Most vegetables take no more than 10 minutes to steam using this microwave technique. We recommend setting it for 6 minutes and once finished, check the cooking level of the different vegetables with a fork.
- Once cooked, we add a splash of oil, a little bit of ground pepper and we can serve them. We can accompany this dish with baked salmon, grilled chicken breast or beef.
Steaming vegetables with a steamer
- We take the head of the broccoli and put it under the pick, pouring a good jet of water on it to remove all the particles of soil and other products that it may contain. We cut the broccoli leaves and remove the lower florets (structures that come out of the stem). Finally, we cut off the upper florets and keep the florets.
- We wash the cauliflower thoroughly and cut it into small pieces, also leaving the florets (similar to how we prepared the broccoli).
- We wash the remaining vegetables, the peppers, zucchini, eggplant, carrots and asparagus, and cut each one into its specific shape.
- If we have a steamer or special pots we will have trays to put the ingredients and they also have a timer to control the time precisely.
- We put the water at the bottom of the steamer and in the different upper drawers we put the different types of vegetables.
- We let it cook and check the food from time to time to ensure that it is cooked to the point we like.
- Once cooked, we serve and add oil and spices and let's eat!
Steam cooking time depending on vegetable
Each vegetable has its own cooking time and it is important to take it into account to further improve the results in the kitchen. All the following times are approximate and depend on each person's taste. It is recommended to check the cooking level of the vegetables every so often.
Vegetable butter
Once our vegetables are steamed, whether with or without a steamer, we can add butter to give it a great flavor. The butter adds a few calories to the dish. However, by controlling the quantities, we will make an exquisite recipe that all our guests will like.
Simply, once the vegetables are cooked, we put the butter in a pan and let it melt for approximately 5 minutes.
What are the benefits of steam cooking?
Steaming our vegetables has many benefits that we have to take into account when choosing the type of preparation of our recipes.
Preparing our vegetable recipes by steaming will avoid adding unnecessary fat to our food since the food will be cooked only with the steam of the water.
Our vegetables will acquire an incredible texture and will also be very juicy.
This technique avoids heavy digestion since it softens the cellular structures of the vegetables, helping the digestive system.
In other techniques, our foods can lose very beneficial properties for our body since contact with oil or water destroys very important molecular structures such as vitamins. On the other hand, when we steam cook, the vegetables are not directly in contact with the water and this helps preserve all their properties.
By maintaining the appearance of the food, the aesthetics of our dishes will improve and the presentation of the dish will be much better than using other techniques.
The 10 keys to steaming vegetables
Avoid contact with water
Steaming brings many benefits compared to other techniques because direct contact with water is avoided. For this reason, it is very important to ensure that this happens, otherwise we would be losing the essence of steam cooking.
Even cooking
It is important to maintain uniform sizes of our vegetables as this will ensure uniform cooking and therefore some pieces will be more done than others. These small details are going to make our recipes worse and prevent us from surprising our loved ones.
Control cooking time
It is very important to keep track of the recommended times because if we leave the vegetables cooking while we do other tasks or watch television, it is very possible that we will not meet the times and therefore the results will not be as expected. Remember that cooking is an art and therefore for our steamed recipes to be delicious it is necessary to maintain good control.
keep your distance
It is important to leave space between the pieces of vegetables when steaming since to obtain good cooking of the food, the steam must be able to circulate easily throughout the container.
Use fresh vegetables
One of the advantages of steaming recipes is that it maintains the original flavors of the food. However, this can be a disadvantage if we do not monitor the quality of the food since the flavors will not be masked. That is why it is very important to enjoy a good meal that the food is of quality.
Avoid spinach and chard
These types of vegetables contain salts called oxalates that are responsible for causing kidney stones. This is why it is better to use other cooking techniques for these vegetables, such as boiling them, since this way the oxalates are dissolved and we avoid unnecessary dangers.
Better crispy
Preparing our vegetables by steaming can give them very interesting textures that make our diners love our recipes. That is why it is important to control the cooking and avoid lengthening the cooking times to ensure that the food is very crispy.
Choose the steamer well
As we have mentioned before, it is important to maintain good space between the vegetables. That is why we have to choose a steamer that is the ideal size for the amount of food we want to prepare. Otherwise this can affect the quality of our dishes.
Season your vegetables well
It is important to season our dishes well since by mixing different spices we can obtain very interesting flavors that further improve the quality of our recipes.
Make the recipe yours
Cooking is making your own recipe. Change the times, the ingredients, add more spices, don't be afraid and try different things and in the end you will get an exquisite recipe that will be totally yours.
What type of steamers do I use?
There are different types of steamers that can be used to prepare steamed recipes. In this section we will give a few brief touches on what elements we have to look at so that you can choose which one best suits your needs.
The first thing we have to be clear about is the money we want to spend. As with most things, the higher our budget, the better quality the product will be. For beginners, I would recommend that you spend a lot of money since in this case the most important thing is practice and not so much the characteristics of the steamer. Once you have more experience, it is important to invest in this type of accessories since their quality will greatly influence the results of our recipes.
Another aspect to take into account is the capacity in liters of the steamers when we are deciding which one to purchase since, as we have mentioned previously, it is important to leave space between the foods. All this will depend on how many people we are going to cook for. Another option is to get a small one for when we are with family and a larger one for when we celebrate events with a larger number of people.
The power of the steamers only influences the amount of time required to cook the food. If we purchase a steamer with greater power we can save time and have our menu ready more quickly.
It is important to choose a steamer that is easy to maintain to prepare our steamed recipes. This means that it is easy to clean and that there are no food remains since this leads to the proliferation of bacteria which can cause health problems.
There are different types of steamers.
Bamboo steamers
This type of steamer is the most traditional and widely used in oriental cuisine. This type of steamers are made up of different floors which allows you to cook different foods at the same time. They are very useful and also very economical, therefore they are quite interesting to enter this world of steam recipes. However, it has a disadvantage and that is that cleaning it can be quite complicated compared to other types of steamers.
Stainless steel steamers
These types of steamers are the most popular as they offer several advantages at a reasonable price. They stand out for their great resistance and ease of cleaning, as well as allowing the preparation of any dish in a very simple way.
Silicone steamers
This is a very interesting type of steamer since it takes up very little space in the kitchen because it has the ability to fold. It is also easy to wash and also has a very low price. All this makes this type of steamer a good option for beginners.
Steam case
These types of steamers are very useful as well as cheap. It simply consists of putting water in the case and food on top. Once everything is prepared, close it and put it in the oven or microwave and wait for the food to be steamed.
Electric steamers
This type of steamers are the most complete and therefore the ones that require a greater investment. They offer many advantages over the other types of steamers that we have mentioned:
–It maintains the temperature evenly in this way we prevent certain parts from cooking more than others.
–It has several floors so it allows us to steam many different types of food.
-We do not have to check the water level since the steamer controls the amount of water that evaporates.
Ruben Canadas
I started cosmorecipes in 2020 during the time we were cooped up at home. Having so much free time I spent a lot of time in the kitchen trying different dishes. So I decided to mix cooking with my other great passion: web programming. That's why I decided to open this blog where I post the different recipes that I'm cooking.
