One of the easiest and healthiest ways to cook vegetables is to steam them.  If you have an electric steamer or bamboo steamer, great but they’re not necessary.  I just use a regular saucepan with a wire basket that fits inside and a lid that fits to place on top and you’re good. 

The nice thing about steaming is:

·         It’s quick.  If you’re running short on time, just get the water boiling, place the vegetables in the basket and in no time they will be cooked to perfection.

·         It’s easy.  Elaborate culinary skills are not needed to steam vegetables.  Wash and cut them up into the sizes you want, place vegetables inside the basket sprinkling them with fresh or dried herbs or even citrus juices for extra flavor.  Make sure the basket is sitting above the water when steaming.

·         It’s healthy.  Steaming results in minimal loss of nutrients, preserves flavor, texture and moisture, unlikely to char vegetables which can increase cancer risk, and requires no added fat unless it’s a heart-healthy fat such as olive or canola oil.

Speaking of health, did you know cruciferous vegetables – broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, bok choy, kale, turnips, rutabagas, collard greens, radishes, arugula, Brussel sprouts – retain more of their cancer-fighting compounds when steamed?  These vegetables are loaded with glucosinolates, a type of phytochemical, which inhibit tumor formation reducing the risk of cancer.  Steaming helps to preserve and increase glucosinolates by 30% compared to if the vegetables are eaten raw. 

Steaming also:

·         Preserves vitamin C and most B vitamins whereas boiling or microwaving does not. Vegetables that are steamed come into less contact with the water helping to retain more nutrients. 

·         Allows more antioxidants like carotenoids, found in carrots and spinach, to be available to the body when lightly cooked when compared to eaten raw.

Just about any vegetable can be steamed.  The chart below shows approximate steaming times for a sampling of vegetables and how to season them.  This is simply a guide as some people like their vegetables more firm and crisp depending on personal taste.  Also whole vegetables will take longer to cook compared to sliced vegetables.

egetables are not the only foods that can be steamed.  It’s also a healthy way to cook fish and shellfish such as shrimp, lobster, clams and mussels.  

ABOUT CHERYL MUSSATTO, REGISTERED DIETITIAN

Cheryl Mussatto has over 30 years of experience as a Registered Dietitian and has worked in a variety of settings that cover a wide span of nutrition experience.  Currently she works as an adjunct professor for two community colleges, Allen Community College in Burlingame and Butler Community College in Council Grove, Kansas teaching two courses, Basic Nutrition and Therapeutic Nutrition. Cheryl also is a contributing author for osagecountyonline.com, an online newspaper and Edietitians, a global free nutritional and health magazine. Her articles for both publications pertain to nutrition topics that cover a diversity of health and nutrition interests for the general public.  She is also certified as a health and wellness coach.