Full steam ahead
Four recipes for one-pot meals that are quick, delicious and no fuss
When it comes to preparing fast and nutritious meals in a jiffy, it’s hard to beat a steamer. Unfortunately, that triedand-true bit of kitchen equipment has largely fallen from favor in recent years as home cooks turn to digital pressure cookers, air fryers and other devices.
Well, we’re here to do something about that.
Steam’s reputation as a dowdy, bland way to get dinner on the table is sorely undeserved. And a few food voices have rallied to the technique’s defense.
Author and cooking instructor Patricia Wells, in her authoritative 2017 book “My Master Recipes,” wrote, “Used the proper way, steaming is one of the best ways to achieve clean, bright flavors, and can be anything but boring. There’s nothing to get in the way of the pure flavor of the food.”
Don’t have a dedicated stack of steamer baskets? No sweat.
In his 2014 book “How to Cook
Everything Fast,” Mark Bittman outlines a simple method for rigging one out of other tools. Just flip over a few ramekins or a shallow bowl into a large pot and balance a plate on top. Add an inch or so of water, and voila, you’re ready to steam. Alternatively, complete meals can be made on the type of collapsible steamer baskets that drop into a pot.
There are, of course, a few tips Wells and others suggest keeping in mind when cooking with a steam.
The lid on a bamboo steamer will absorb water that would otherwise drip on your food with a metal lid. And keep an eye on the clock — excessively steamed vegetables can become unpleasantly mushy.
As for the liquid below, make sure there’s plenty of it and that it reaches a full boil before dropping the lid on top. But don’t feel limited to water — beer, wine, stocks and other flavorful liquids can be used to impart extra flavor and aroma in addition to steam.
Broad leafy greens such as collard, turnip and mustard greens or herbs with substantial foliage such as shiso (aka perilla) make terrific wrappers for steamed fish filets or chicken breasts. Not only does the wrapper protect the meat while cooking, Wells says, it helps prevent the bamboo from absorbing strong odors.
This week we’ve made a quartet of diverse, simple full meals that capitalize on the steamer’s potential by cooking everything together at the same time in one steamer. Calorie counts are on the lighter side, ranging from 184 to 325 per serving — just the ticket for these hazy summer days. And — bonus! — this won’t heat up your kitchen like using the oven.
The best part? The shopping list, minus a few pantry staples including soy sauce and chile flakes, for all four recipes rang up just shy of $60. How’s that for cooking with steam?