Steaming is a great way to keep the vitamins and minerals from leaking out of your food. Because steaming requires no added fat for cooking, it's an ideal technique for healthy cooking.
Collapsible metal steamers are a great tool. They take up little storage space and will expand to fit almost any pot or skillet. When placing the steamer in the pot, be sure the water does not touch the bottom of the steamer basket.
Bamboo steamers look like a covered basket with a flat bottom that fit inside a wok or over a medium skillet filled with simmering water. These stackable steamers are ideal for steaming a wide variety of vegetables, all at the same time. Place longer cooking vegetables in a steamer basket closest to the heat, and place shorter cooking items near the top. Search out bamboo steamers in houseware departments or in Asian cookware shops.
If you don't have a steamer, don't despair! You can improvise by using a strainer or a footed colander.
From "Betty Crocker's Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Cooking Today." Text Copyright 2005 General Mills, Inc. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.