Steamed veg tastes much better than boiled

[HustleRussell]

Advice for veg dodgers or parents of veg dodgers

Steam your veg!

We got a steamer which sits on top of a saucepan recently and yesterday I did some Broccoli in it. Broccoli is one of my least favourites, I always have to eat it first to 'get it out of the way'. As it turns out, pretty tasty if steamed rather than boiled. Fresher taste and smell, better colour, better texture....

Looking forward to steaming other stuff now.

A lot of you will already know this but just thought I'd share.

[Alex]

I fry my veg in lard.

[Sheets Tabuer]

Thanks, I've been steaming a lot, sometimes I've spent hours steaming but now I've moved on from steaming to microwaving, steaming is so 00's

Everything is so much fresher

[Saleen836]

I roast my veg with a little salt sprinkled over it, tastes much better that way than boiling. Also discovered sprouts taste much better roasted and for some random reason I don't suffer wind if I roast them where as boiling them the wind was bad

[Scabutz]

Steaming is a lot healthier too. A lot of vitamins in veg are water soluble and if you boil then throw the water a way a lot is being lost.

You have to not go mad with the steaming though or it can have the same effect

[otolith]

Chemical reactions occur when cabbage family vegetables are heated which alters their smell and bitterness. I suspect that you are cooking them less in the steamer and thus not making them as bitter and stinky.

[grumbledoak]

I think many brassicas simply get cooked until there is nothing left but the bitterness.

[Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah]

It may sound obvious with their description, but steamed puddings are amazing in them.

[GrumpyTwig]

broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, sprouts among other foods like gyoza and dumplings get stuck through my electric steamer.

Can't bare to boil these days, carrots taste crap boiled.

[SturdyHSV]

When I gave more of a crap about what I ate I looked in to cooking methods a bit and for speed / convenience steaming is pretty damn good.

If using bisto or something to make gravy, I measure out the amount of water needed, use that to steam the veg, and then use it to make the gravy after. There's often a bit of veggy colour to it so I like to convince myself it keeps more of the nutrients in

[C0ffin D0dger]

Get one of these: http://www.wilko.com/kitchen-gadgets-and-utensils/...

Brilliant if you just want to do a portion or two of broccoli or whatever for the midweek meal. Funnily enough the mother-in-law was at ours for dinner last night and complimented me on how perfectly cooked and still green my broccoli was after cooking it in one of these.

Also have the big three tier electric one to do the veg for Sunday roasts. The was also really useful for cooking my homemade Christmas puds last year.

[RobM77]

Definitely. It also saves on washing up if you steam the veg over another saucepan, for example a rice saucepan.

Personally though my favourite is stir fried in a proper hot wok with some flavour (ginger, soy etc). I find steamed broccoli ok, boiled is nasty, but stir fried broccoli is one of my favourite things. Strange, but true.

[LordGrover]

I 'steam' many vegetables in my pressure cooker. Simply superb.
Most brassicas take 0 minutes, which is pretty quick.

[Sticks.]

RobM77 said:

Definitely. It also saves on washing up if you steam the veg over another saucepan, for example a rice saucepan.

That's what I do, from laziness/efficiency. Yes, the water's good for gravy.
I usually boil potatoes though. Do they steam OK?

LordGrover said:

I 'steam' many vegetables in my pressure cooker. Simply superb.
Most brassicas take 0 minutes, which is pretty quick.

That is quick

[RobM77]

Sticks. said:

RobM77 said:

Definitely. It also saves on washing up if you steam the veg over another saucepan, for example a rice saucepan.

That's what I do, from laziness/efficiency. Yes, the water's good for gravy.
I usually boil potatoes though. Do they steam OK?

I can't stand potatoes, thus the rice, so I wouldn't know

[Pistom]

Sheets Tabuer said:

Thanks, I've been steaming a lot, sometimes I've spent hours steaming but now I've moved on from steaming to microwaving, steaming is so 00's

Everything is so much fresher

How does microwaving improve the taste? I'll give it a try.

I can understand why boiling would be inferior and steaming better. I loved steamed vag with pepper and butter.

[Voldemort]

Pistom said:

I loved steamed vag

Who doesn't?

[otolith]

Voldemort said:

Pistom said:

I loved steamed vag

Who doesn't?

Not Gwyneth Paltrow.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/gwyneth-p...

[Stan the Bat]

Sticks. said:

RobM77 said:

Definitely. It also saves on washing up if you steam the veg over another saucepan, for example a rice saucepan.

That's what I do, from laziness/efficiency. Yes, the water's good for gravy.
I usually boil potatoes though. Do they steam OK?

LordGrover said:

I 'steam' many vegetables in my pressure cooker. Simply superb.
Most brassicas take 0 minutes, which is pretty quick.

That is quick

Potatoes steam fine.

[Riley Blue]

I used our steamer for the first time in years last night and agree, much better tasting veggies despite me leaving them in a couple of minutes too long - will do better this evening.