Wintertime cooking should be easy and steaming meals is a great way to cut back on calories and it makes for easy clean-up.
Steaming – it is not just for broccoli and carrots anymore. This time-saving cooking technique, which uses one pot to prepare food, is the more energy-efficient choice when it comes to cooking as it reduces the overall cook time.
And with the fast-rising cooking oil prices, steaming comes in handy.
If you are not familiar with steaming, the food is placed above water or other cooking liquid in a covered pan that is hot enough to produce steam to gently cook the food.
The best part is that steamed foods do not have to be dull to eat; they can be made delicious. Here are some of the foods that you can steam, besides broccoli and carrots.
Eggs
For perfectly cooked eggs in their shell, you will need to steam them for about six minutes for soft-boiled eggs with runny centres.
For hard-boiled eggs to use in salads or sandwiches, leave them steaming for about 12 minutes. Add a pinch of pepper to make your eggs more delicious and healthy.
Fish
Delicate fish retains moisture when steamed. Place seasoned salmon or other white fish on a bed of fresh herbs or citrus slices and steam until flaky.
Not many people think of steaming their fish, but it works really well as it maintains moisture levels better than baking or frying. You can even add herbs and seasoning directly onto the food itself or into your steaming water to add flavour.
Asparagus
With asparagus, you have to remove the woody part first. You can simply season steamed asparagus with salt and pepper and quite frankly, you are all good. It can be that simple.
Asparagus is actually a good source of potassium which helps nerves and muscles to function properly. It also contains folate and vitamins K, C, and A which aid in keeping bones healthy and in boosting the immune system.