30 Days, 30 Ways: Steam and Poach

All throughout January we’re bringing you 30 Days, 30 Ways to Good Health, a series of easy strategies for overall wellness (and because we love food, it’s focuses on the foods and cooking techniques to add into your life instead of what to take away.)  Read on for our latest eat well strategy: steam and poach.

 

Steaming and poaching are cooking techniques to master. Both help food retain their texture and flavor without adding fat. Steaming works well with vegetables as it helps them to keep their vibrancy, flavor and shape; poaching is great for proteins like chicken, fish and eggs as it helps them keep their delicate texture. Here are a few of our favorite ways to use these cooking techniques.

 

 

Steamed Tofu with Greens and Peanut SauceThis is a virtuous vegetarian supper, with nutrients from the cabbage and spinach and protein from the tofu. The steaming technique is quick and lean, limiting the fat content to the healthy fats from coconut milk and peanut butter in the rich sauce.

Steamed Salmon with Chermoula Chermoula is a cilantro- and parsley-based pesto, Moroccan style. Here, it adds fresh and tangy flavors that steam along with the salmon. Leftover sauce is delicious mixed with pasta or roasted vegetables.

Poached Eggs with Sweet Pepper PiperadePipérade is a Basque-style sauté of sweet onions and colorful peppers. Choose different colors of peppers for the maximum variety of antioxidants, plus a high dose of naturally occurring vitamin C to start your day.

Poached Chicken Soup with Lemon and Spinach We all know chicken soup heals the soul. This is comfort in a bowl, with shredded chicken, bright, fresh lemon and wilted spinach leaves. Add a spoonful of Sriracha for an extra kick.

Slow-Cooked Chickpeas on Toast with Poached Eggs Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe for beans on toast is elevated with slow-cooked chickpeas, fragrant spices, and poached eggs.

Steamed Sugar Snap Peas with Black Sesame Seeds Crisp, bright green peas are flavored with sesame oil and sesame seeds to produce a fragrant side dish. The color is beautiful, the flavor is great and each serving has only 70 calories.

Olive-Oil Poached Tuna with Tomato-Fennel Salad Poaching in a shallow bath of olive oil and herbs results in tender, flavorful tuna that can be enjoyed warm or at room temperature. Serving it alongside a salad of fennel, tomatoes and beets adds vibrant color and fresh flavor to the dish

Mussels Steamed in Wine This simple bowlful of shellfish is a classic of Parisian bistros, where crusty bread is always served to soak up the aromatic broth.