In a hurry to cook dinner, eat and sleep? Vegetables can be cooked in a quick way that is healthy and delicious too. When it comes to complete health package including weight-loss, the more greens you can stomach, the better it is! The technique of cooking vegetables is the key to vigour.
Vegetables are an essential part of a healthy diet. To get their full natural flavour and nutritional benefit, cook them as minimum as possible without adding mush spices and artificial flavours. Buy them fresh before cooking as the taste of freshness is awesome and they are full of natural flavour and nutrients. Lightly cooked vegetable is life’s one of the greatest pleasures. If you all are vegetable-friendly, these techniques of cooking keep their wholesomeness intact – boiling, blanching and steaming. Veggies cooked with these methods may boost your metabolism, reduce your weight and help gain long-lost energy. Do not miss them.
Broccoli
Cut it into equal-sized florets. Boil water in a pan. Add these broccoli pieces. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the vegetable is just tender. Drain the water. Sprinkle little salt and black pepper powder. Add a dash of lemon juice to enhance the taste. You can add few pieces of sautéed red and yellow bell peppers to this blanched broccoli. It will give your eyes and taste buds a healthy treat.
Peas and carrot
Steaming these veggies is the best way of retaining their flavour, colour and vital nutrients. Just be careful not to overcook them as this will make them limp and tasteless. Either place carrot chunks in a steamer and cover or steam them in their own juicy water. Sprinkle salt and black pepper powder. Toss after adding little lemon juice.
Cauliflower and beetroot
Steaming is not just for peas and carrot – cauliflower and beetroot taste wonderful cooked this way. Steaming them together works by intensifying flavours and causing a tender bite for best results. Cut cauliflower in small pieces. Add four to five small pieces of beetroot. Steam adding very little water in pressure cooker. Take out after pressure comes out. Add a dash of salt, black pepper powder and lemon juice.
Mushroom and baby spinach
Blanching is a technique to soften vegetables, either to remove their raw edge before adding to salads or to loosen their outer skin. Just add these vegetables to a pan of boiling water one by one separately, return to the boil and cook for a minute. Then plunge the baby spinach into iced water to stop further cooking. Drain and pat dry with kitchen towel. Toss them in a bowl adding salt, black pepper powder and lemon juice.
Sweet potato
Boil sweet potatoes adding water in a pressure cooker. After boiling, peel them off. Cut up into slices and season with olive oil, cayenne pepper and a dash of salt.
Zucchini, onion, and corn
Boil corn kernels till tender. Add sautéed zucchini pieces and finely chopped onion. Throw in some red and black beans. Season with your favourite salsa to give it a South Western flair or you may flavour it with herbs.
Green beans
Snip off steamed ends. Look for small, thin and firm beans. Place beans in a steamer basket over one inch of water in a large pot set over high heat. Cover and steam for five minutes. Add little salt and black pepper.
People who eat vegetables cooked with these healthy cooking methods as a part of their daily diet have a reduced risk of many chronic diseases including obesity. The water and fibre in vegetables will add volume to your dishes, so that you can eat the same amount of food with fewer calories and lose weight. You must eat fewer calories than your body uses.
You may add parmesan cheese to all these recipes to make your dish tastier and have it with a multigrain toast to satiate your hunger during meal time.