How to Steam Broccoli the Old Fashioned Way
In our family growing up, canned goods were usually the main source of vegetables. Once I ventured out on my own I found that cooking fresh vegetables became a new adventure. I was delighted to find out how simple it is to prepare fresh vegetables like broccoli. The nutritional values of freshly cooked vegetables really make it worth the time invested.
Just follow these easy steps to prepare steamed broccoli using a metal steamer available in the kitchenware department at WalMart or Target or even on eBay. This multi-purpose gadget will work wonderfully on cauliflower and baby carrots as well.
Happy cooking!
Things You Will Need
A medium sized saucepan with a lid
A metal vegetable steamer
Fresh raw broccoli rinsed, trimmed and ready to use
A small amount of water - about 2/3 cup and salt to taste.
Step 1
Take some help from the grocery store and make it easy on your self. Fresh raw broccoli is found in the produce section of the grocery store, already washed, chopped, pre-packaged and ready to cook.
Search for packaged broccoli near the cauliflower, carrots and lettuce. Be sure to check the use-by date and pick a bag with ample time before it expires. Sam's Club or Cosco sells a huge bag of ready-to-cook prepackaged broccoli at a reasonable price.
Step 2
Select a medium sized sauce pan that will allow your metal steamer enough room to ensure a tight fitting lid will cover the vegetables.
Arrange the pre-chopped broccoli florets on the metal steamer starting with one layer deep. If the ends of the broccoli seem ragged or slightly brown, use a sharp knife to trim off and freshen the stems, like you would do for fresh flowers. This will help with the appearance and water absorption.
Step 3
Add a small amount of water to the sauce pan and lower the filled vegetable steamer down into the pan. The water should be shallow enough not to allow the broccoli to soak, rather just enough to create a steam bath when it begins to boil.
Step 4
Cover the pan with the lid and place it over medium to medium high heat. Watch the process carefully. It should take only about five to seven minutes once the water boils, depending on your preferences about vegetable texture and firmness.
Broccoli has been around for at least 2,000 years, and was considered a valuable food even during the Roman empire. This good source of fiber is rich in Vitamin K, Vitamin A and Vitamin E and one cup of chopped broccoli actually provides 135% of the daily requirement of Vitamin C, even more than orange juice!
Tips & Warnings
Once you've prepared steamed broccoli a couple of times, you'll know when your broccoli is done by its smell and bright green color.
Your family may not realize the possible cancer preventing and antioxidant effects of broccoli, but they'll enjoy this tasty side dish that's so easy to prepare.
Kids will eat more of this healthy green vegetable if you pour a nice cheese sauce over the top.
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Comments
Great article on preparing a dish that is good for you in so many ways.
Yes Brocoli is one of the good guys so they say.Welcome to info barrel
JHKersey, Hi. Thanks for commenting. As you can see from the weird characters in the text I'm still trying to figure out editing. Hope the revised edition comes out soon. Looking forward to seeing you again on InfoBarrel.
Thinkwrite,
You can get rid of those characters EASILY, by simply using Notepad. I'm not 100% sure of the technical aspects behind WHY this happens...
But here is what I do:
1) Write my articles in Microsoft Word
2) Cut and Paste to Notepad
3) Cut and Paste to Info Barrel
I'm not sure WHY this is, but, even with one extra step, I still really appreciate the ease of things around here. It doesn't take over an hour just to publish an article (as has been my experience elsewhere).
....of course, with How-to articles, you'll have to cut and paste each step individually, into notepad. You could also just write your articles strait into the submission form, however, I wouldn't recommend that...especially if you have very lengthy articles.
P.s. Nice article. I love broccoli. :)
just in case you missed it, thinkwrite...an infobarrel admin ALREADY addressed your 'age' suggestion/concern, over on the forum ;) :)
Actually I had that problem with my first two or three articles, but I am still using office, MS Word. And I do not have any problems I write in it and just copy and paste and wella no probs at all.
eileen, thanks for the welcome and for reading and commenting. Will be checking out your site now that I've met you!
Thank you x3xsolxdierx3x for the editing help. Turns out this was caused when I tried to add pictures, I browsed and didn't hit the add button. I submitted a revised edit in the interim which had not been processed.
Yes! I did notice an immediate response from the team to address my concerns over the age posting. Very nice - encouraging.
Broccoli is so good for you. THis sounds a good way to cook it.
You just made me want steamed brocolli at 10:00 am!
Hi JHKersey, sorry it took so long to acknowledge your comment. Thanks for reading and hope to read some of your work soon.
ethelsmith, Sooooo easy. You can do cauliflower this way too!
CWilliams, How about a broccoli and cheese omlet for brunch? Yummm.
I love broccoli! That is my favorite food.
Great tips on steaming broccoli the old fashioned way, I have an old vegetable steamer haven't use it in a while. Going to put up the electric one and go back to using the metal steamer and a saucepan. Thanks.
Ewww... broccoli?! Well, I guess alot of people really do like it. :)
Kristara - broccoli is one of the good guys when it comes to nutrition. I used to prepare it from frozen packages, but it's so much better fresh.
Lynsuz - Sometimes the fancy gadgets are more trouble than they are worth. I love the simplicity of the metal steamer. It's also good for steaming other vegetables.
snowfence, Even my baby nephew eats it. He calls it trees. "More trees" he yells from his high chair, banging his little fist on the plastic tray.
Sometimes simple things are the best and preparing broccoli doesn't get any easier than this. I have the same publishing problem and solution as X3X. Just can't copy and paste from Word directly to IB, have to put in the middleman. I'm on a Mac so for me that's Stickies. I can copy from Stickies to IB with no problem.
divaonline - Amazingly simple to cook broccoli. Thanks for stopping in. I haven't experienced a problem with copy-paste from Word but I'm on an HP.
Great recipe for steaming broccoli. I have also discovered the new steamer bags for steaming vegetables. They work great!
Deborah-D, Steamer bags are a good way to go too. Anything that makes life easier while cooking. Thanks for stopping in.
Thanks, a great article.
Thanks for stopping by Margielynn, and for your nice comment.
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