As you follow the Insulite System's Nutrition Plan and incorporate increasing portions of fish and vegetables into your diet to lose weight, we'd like to support your new-found healthy lifestyle with cooking advice.
Did you know, for instance, that steaming vegetables retains more of their nutrients than using large quantities of boiling water? This moisture-capturing method is ideal for delicate foods such as fish, and vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, carrots, squash and zucchini.
It's best to cut vegetables into chunks of similar size, but not small pieces, before steaming. This shortens the cooking time and thus minimizes nutrient loss. Don't cut too much, otherwise you'll expose more surface area and lose important nutrients.
When steaming, the food cooks gently over rather than in boiling water. You can purchase an inexpensive stainless steel steamer from your grocery, hardware or culinary store. An attractive bamboo version, that steams food inside a wok, doubles as a serving dish.
Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a covered pot or wok. Then set the steamer with the fish or vegetables over the water. Keep the water simmering, adding more if needed. Most vegetables steam for seven to ten minutes.
Bay leaves, parsley, thyme sprigs, coriander seed, lemon and other seasonings in your steaming water will further enhance the flavor.
