The Easiest Way To Steam Vegetables

When time is tight, a silicone steamer in the microwave can take the place of stovetop cooking.

SAVE TIME | Where steaming vegetables is concerned, I’m lazy, I’ll admit it. During the week, I don’t want to have to haul out a saucepan, steamer insert and lid just to cook some stalks of broccoli or wait for them to go al dente on top of the stove.

On weeknights, I want my dinner fast and easy, which is how I locked onto Ziploc Zip’n Steam bags that steam vegetables satisfactorily in the microwave in just a few minutes.

I’d been purchasing these throwaway bags on Amazon (30 for $7.41) and feeling guilty for being wasteful, when a friend suggested I try a reusable silicone steamer, which cooks vegetables in the same amount of time as the Ziploc product. I found one on sale at Amazon in an unpopular colour for $5.49 and ordered two (one for my daughter) to justify the shipping cost.

I’ve been happy with the way my Orka steamer steams most of my veg (it also steams fish and poultry, although I haven’t used it for this): cauliflower and potatoes come out awesome; broccoli and carrots cook up good; asparagus has been my only real disaster.

Some cooks think that microwave and stovetop steaming are pretty much the same. I don’t. Stovetop steaming allows you to check on your vegetables frequently without interrupting the cooking process so you can pull them off the heat exactly when you want. Microwave steaming is less flexible; I know I’m less likely to check on how foods are doing when they’re sealed in a microwave container, which has led to both under- or overcooking.

But if you’ve been relying on Zip’n Steam bags to get you through dinner the way I have, then silicone steamers are a super solid and less wasteful alternative. —Annabel Lee

Find Zip’n Steam bags online at amazon.com; find Orka steamers online at Amazon.com or Epicure.ca.

Photos: Mastrad, Ziploc, Mastrad