Cooking veggies without boiling away the goodness

As a kid, I had my share of vegetables, all somehow cooked in boiling water, drained, and served. I’m not blaming anyone about it, as that is how veggies were cooked back then.

Nowadays we know far more about nutrition and that long dip in the boiling water washes out a fair amount of the good stuff that eating veggies are supposed to provide. What are you going to do?

Years ago I received a folding steamer basket made out of stainless steel. The idea was that you would get a pot with an inch or less of boiling water in it, place in the basket, then drop in the veggies to be steamed, cover, and steam to desired doneness. This would work well for greens such as spinach and chard or even carrots, though the cooking time would increase before they would be considered soft enough.

Steaming is still popular in my house. Think of the recent St. Patrick’s Day meal of corned beef and cabbage. Cabbage is very easily cooked through by steaming, either over the cooking meat, or by itself. If not being served for the one day of being Irish, I serve cabbage with a little bit of salt and butter.

I recall going to a meal and some very lovely green beans were to be steamed for the meal. After passing through the steamer, they were so badly overcooked as to be a dark olive green, just as if they had served canned green beans. The point of a bright vibrant green color being the indicator of being done was never considered.

Fresh green beans are a favorite here, just lightly browned. In the picture, I gave a frying pan a light spritz of cooking spray then heated the pan through. I then placed the beans in the pan in a single layer until they started to lightly grown. I then flipped them over and did the same on the other side. Cooking time was just a few minutes. The beans still had a bit of crunch to them, but the bits of brown took the flavor far beyond what just boiling or steaming would do. I’d treat asparagus in the same fashion, after trimming the bottom section off.

I’d like to brown carrot slices, but they are a bit tougher to do. I’ll cut my carrot into the desired sizes, place a quarter of an inch of water in my pan with a tablespoon of butter and bring it to a boil with my carrots in the water. The idea is there is such a small amount of water that the carrots just soften by the time the water is gone. The butter then keeps the carrots from sticking as they start to brown.

Broccoli is a more interesting veggie, in that it is easy to steam, fry, bake and broil. I’d fry it just like I did the carrots above, but taking care to cut it into bite-sized pieces first. If I was baking it, I’d preheat my oven to 450 degrees and place bite-sized pieces in a lightly greased baking pan. Cooking time will depend on how big the pieces are cut, but once they start to brown I’ll pull the pan and give it a stir and continue to brown. Broiling is very similar. My broiler is gets pretty hot and will burn stuff in no time if I’m not vigilant. As the veggies start to get brown, I’ll pull the pan out and stir well to give the other side of the broccoli a chance to brown. You can do the same with cauliflower.

Frozen cut corn is easy to brown in a frying pan and oven. I’ll thaw out the portion I want to cook in a colander with some warm water and let it drain. In a frying pan I’ll put a dollop of butter in the pan and heat it very hot before dropping in the corn. As it browns I’ll toss the corn to brown the other side. If using the oven, the broiler will be a quicker way to brown it. You could even just use a spritz of pan spray in your baking dish to make sure the corn doesn’t stick, but that same fat will help browning too.

Whole corn might be easy to cook in boiling water, but they can be easily steamed, thought it will take some time. I’ve also baked ears after shucking and then wrapping in foil and placing in a 350 degree oven. The foil holds in the moisture allowing the corn to steam until done. The time it takes depends on the size of the ear, but I’d start at 30 minutes.

By this point, you start to get the idea of how to cook veggies. Got peas? Whole in pod or iqf shelled frozen ones? I’ll lightly fry the whole pods in a dab of butter, like you would do a stir fry. The shelled peas get the same treatment as the cut corn.

For Brussels sprouts, I’ll preheat my oven to 400 degrees. In the meantime, I’ll cut each one in half and blot a bit of melted butter on the cut side. I’ll put the sprouts in a sheet pan into the hot oven and cook until the edges start to brown. I’ll pull the pan out and stir then place back in the oven to brown a bit more.

I’ve not mentioned anything about seasoning yet. There might be a bit of salt in the butter you use to cook with, but most veggies will at least need a pinch of salt before serving. I’ll grab a pinch from my salt cellar and lightly sprinkle from a few inches above the food, as it will help spread the salt evenly. If you like garlic, you can easily add it to the frying steps above. I’d lightly chop it up before stirring into the vegetable. Garlic cooked briefly will still be very pungent, so go easy on the amount you use. If using jarred minced garlic from the refrigerator, it will be less strong so you could use a bit more.

I’d take the time to use a freshly ground black pepper, if desired. Purchased ground pepper will lose some of its volatility and become less potent over time. If you’re going through the trouble of cooking your veggies this way, why use stale black pepper?

I’ve got some flavored salts in the cupboard and one of my favorites to uses on carrots is maple salt. The carrots already have natural sweetness, so the salty maple adds to the complexity.

I’ll sprinkle smoked ground paprika over most anything, though in moderation. Some veggies are complimented by the hint of smokiness.