Cooking Healthy Foods With a Food Steamer: Fast, Simple and Delicious!

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HEALTHY COOKING

Quite by chance, I found a food steamer at Walmart as I was shopping for my husband’s birthday last year. I wasn’t looking for one but as I looked it over, I was amazed at how easy it looked to use. Since then my husband and I have both learned that this is a fabulous item for cooking. It is perfect for two people, even three or four, depending on what you are cooking, and when the food is done, it’s piping hot, moist and good for you!

The food steamer itself is inexpensive to purchase. I have purchased several in the past year for family and friends. The price ranges from $19.99 on up. The lower priced ones work just as well but aren’t as big. If you are cooking for more than two, you’ll want one that is a little bigger. The one we have has two trays for cooking food. I like to separate the meat and vegetables as they cook. Some of the newer ones have a tray for poaching eggs. The unit is easy to assemble and use.
Steamed foods offer a way to cook healthy without even turning on the oven! It’s amazing that the set up and clean up at dinnertime is minimal when I use the steamer. Just the other night, I loaded it up to make dinner and decided to take a picture for this blog post. I have fresh haddock in the bottom of the steamer in the lower tray and then I diced two sweet potatoes in the top on one side of the tray and put fresh broccoli and mushrooms in the other side of the top tray. There is no need for a pan coating in either tray. Before I add the food, I fill the lower compartment with water; then, I put the pieces together and turn it on. In 25 minutes, dinner is ready!
The timer on the steamer can be set for whatever time you’d like. I usually start, when the steamer is full, with about 20 minutes and then adjust from there. We like our vegetables nice and crisp, so I can adjust for that. We have no more soggy boiled veggies in our house. The food stays hot for a short time after the timer goes off. If we’re not ready to eat then, I just shut it off and then heat for another 2-3 minutes before we are ready to eat. It is simple.
I’ve made several things in the steamer. My favorite is fresh fish – any kind. It goes from the package (or from the lake, pond, or brook) to the steamer. I’ve also cooked chicken and you can cook hamburger but I haven’t tried that yet. We’ve cooked a variety of vegetables in the steamer including carrots, broccoli, onion, swiss chard, beet greens, dandelion greens, corn on the cob, sweet potato, white potato, zucchini, squash, kale and more. The steamer is also great to quickly reheat leftover.
A food steamer is quick to clean as well. After eating, I clean it out and put the trays in the sink with nice soapy water. They are quick to wash and clean up; I use a brush. It stores nicely in the cabinet in my kitchen.
This is a great way to eat healthy foods. We all know that fried foods are bad for us. If you start using a food steamer, it will help you eat healthier foods. I know we’ve maximized eating vegetables since buying the steamer. I love cooking with it!



This post is part of Fight Back Friday.

 
This is the steamer we use.  It’s perfect for two people.  

Shirley Wright, LMT, RMT
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