Many people want to include a good variety of fresh vegetables in their diet. While delicious meals can be made around vegetables, sometimes just having some simple vegetables on the side is all you want and need. Boiling vegetables to have as a side is very common, but lots of people would choose to steam them instead. Here’s a lowdown on both options.
What Does Each Include?
Boiling is a very simple procedure that is capable of cooking most vegetables. Simply placing them in a pot of boiling water for a certain time will make them soft and edible. Steaming, however, doesn’t place the vegetables in the water, but instead they’re placed in a basket above boiling water. The steam from the water cooks the veg without them coming into contact with the water itself.
Steaming May Be Healthier
There’s a common viewpoint that boiling vegetables leads to some of their precious nutrients and vitamins seeping out into the water and therefore being lost. Steaming avoids this issue.
Steaming Takes Much Longer
To ensure the vegetable is fully cooked and not too tough, it will often need to be steamed for a lot longer than it would need to be boiled. If time is tight or energy bills are of concern, then this is an unfortunate aspect of the steaming process.
