There are any number of ways you can prepare healthy dishes without adding extra fat and calories to them, and one such ancient method is still popular today: steaming. Once you get into the habit of steaming your food, chances are you'll never go to back to your old methods – especially if you're on a diet.
First you need to understand why this is such a wonderful method for losing weight. Foods burn at different rates, and the burning process is known as a calorie. In order to burn a carbohydrate unit, it takes four calories; to burn a unit of fat, it takes nine calories. By comparison, a single celery stalk will take six calories to burn. Would you rather spend a half hour on an exercise bike to burn off a tablespoon of olive oil at 120 calories, or channel surf for a few minutes and burn off a celery stalk? So there is truth to the old saying of fat does make you fat.
Steaming is easy and as healthy as you can get in terms of cooking. There are many ways you can start steaming, and it's all a matter of choice, time, and budget.
- Some steaming fans love the stackable bamboo rounds because they can cook everything at the same time, but they are hard to clean, take a lot of careful maintenance, and need to be replaced sooner than other devices.
- You can place a metal steaming basket that can be purchased between $5-$10 at most department stores and sometimes can be found in the small cooking sections in grocery stores. If you do this, make sure you purchase a little palm sized round bristle scrubbie device for ease and speed of cleaning.
- You can go high tech and buy a professional grade steamer with timers and multiple bins . These are handy if you're cooking multiple types of food and each requires a different amount of steaming time.
- If you want to test the steaming process and see if you like the results, you might want to pull out a small, round cooling rack and place it in the bottom of a shallow pan. Place your food on top, bring the water to nearly a boil, and then turn the setting to low.
- If you don't have a rack, you can go one step lower and make a tinfoil “ring”, place it in the hot water and then lay down a plate on top of the ring to keep it elevated while the hot water steams the food. Turn off the heat so you don't crack the plate, and when your food is done, do not grab the hot plate!
Keep in mind most foods steam quickly and it will take you a little bit of time to figure out how much time it takes to steam your favorite foods. Broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots (“California blend”) will often take about ten minutes to steam, whereas spinach is about five to seven minutes. Frozen fish might take you ten minutes, whereas a thawed piece will usually take six minutes. Green string beans should be cooked no more than six minutes if you like the bright color and want to avoid the drab olive green overcooked look. If you like your vegetables with a little bit more crunch, simply reduce the cooking time. Also keep in mind if you use the stovetop methods, after the water comes to a boil, keep the heat on low or you will overcook your foods in record time.
If you want to be creative, you can place fresh or dried herbs in the bottom of the pan and steam a bit of delicate flavor into your foods so your tongue doesn't become bored. Try placing fresh lemon slices on fish and bay leaves in the water below for a scrumptious alternative. There's no limit to what your imagination can come up with!
Steaming will also keep a lot more of the nutrients and wonderful taste in, whereas with other cooking methods, you're apt to hide the food's taste under sauces and condiments. Once you learn how to steam and your taste buds get used to the natural flavors, you will never miss the globs of cheese or mountains of butter ever again.
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