Vegetables: Yummy & Easy

From time to time, I post something on Facebook about what I'm making for dinner. Inevitably, it seems, someone asks how I'm cooking the veggies. My answer is almost always either:

1. Steaming
2. Blanching

With these two methods of cooking vegetables, you'll find you don't need fancy recipes to enjoy healthy, delicious greens even the kids will love. Both methods also retain most of the nutrients in the veggies, unlike many other methods.

Most often, I steam our vegetables:

1. Place a pot of water on the stove, on high heat.

2. Wash the vegetables and cut off any parts you don't want to eat.



3. Place the veggies inside a steaming basket and set the steaming basket on top of the pot. Cover with a lid.

4. Soon, the water will begin boiling; turn down the heat just a bit. You want the water to continue boiling, but not fiercely. If the water touches the veggies, remove the steaming basket and (carefully!) remove some of the water. The vegetables are done when you can pierce them easily with a fork.


When I want to take a bit more trouble, I blanch the vegetables:

1. Wash the vegetables and cut off any parts you don't want to eat.

2. Drop the veggies into a pot of boiling water. Use 7 or 8 quarts of water for every 2 to 3 pounds of veggies. Don't add too little water, or it will take too long to bring the liquid back to a boil after you place the food in the pot - resulting in not-so-yummy veggies. The faster the water returns to a boil, the tastier and fresher the vegetables will be.

3. When done, the vegetables will be tender but crisp. Naturally softer vegetables usually don't need more than a half or whole minute in the pot. Tougher vegetables only need up to 6 minutes.

4.
Once the vegetables are blanched, refresh them promptly by dropping into ice water for several minutes, until completely cool. This prevents the vegetables from cooking any further, which results in poor taste and texture (and depletes the veggies of their vitamins and minerals).

Blanched vegetables may also be patted dry, then dropped into freezer bags and placed in the freezer for future use.

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