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If you enjoy limp, colourless food that doesn’t have much nutritional value, then there’s nothing wrong with boiling your food. This method isn’t going to actually harm you in the way that frying can, but it’s not doing anything good for you or your meals, either. Boiling causes food to lose a good amount of its nutrients – not to mention the colour and texture that makes it so appealing – in the water in which it’s cooked. But steaming food actually looks better, it tastes better, and it makes you healthier: there’s no downside here. So put away the unhealthy frying pan and check out these easy to make and delicious steaming methods.

Steamed food tastes better

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A healthy eating program should suggest steaming food, not boiling it – many people think that the only option for someone who wants to lose weight is boiling, but this just isn’t true. Steaming food allows it to keep its flavour and texture, while avoiding unnecessary calories. You’ll be eating healthy food that tastes far better than you’d imagined possible, and everyone who’s ever been on a diet knows this – if you enjoy the food that’s part of the diet plan, you’re far more likely to stick with it.

Health benefits

Steaming food is an important component of any healthy eating program, because this method lets you keep the nutrients that you’re eating your food for in the first place. When you boil your food, the vitamins and minerals that your body could be using are lost in the water that’s been used in the cooking process. If you’re following a healthy eating program and boiling your food because it’s healthier than other cooking methods, you’re missing out – because steaming is even healthier.

Choosing a steamer

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Food can be steamed using a basket suspended over a small amount of boiling water in a pot, but it’s probably more practical to invest in a steamer designed especially for your purpose. Compare food steamers to decide how big yours needs to be, and think about whether you want a pressurised or non-pressurised steamer – the pressurised option is likely to be considerably more expensive, and cooks your food faster, but the method of circulating steam that’s used by a non-pressure steamer will result in steaming food far more evenly.

How to steam food

You can steam fish, vegetables, and rice. In the case of vegetables, all you have to do is season the vegetables as you desire before cooking them, then treat the food as you would if you were boiling it, removing it from the steamer when it’s cooked through. Because your vegetables aren’t cooking in water, you can cook more than one kind at the same time without their flavours becoming mixed. In the case of rice, you’ll add water to it before steaming. When steaming fish, you’ll cook the fish on its own, and then add any sauce that you require afterwards. An additional benefit to steaming food is that is that it’s a relatively quick cooking method that still fits in with your healthy eating program.

Tags: Steaming food