Can I Use A Vegetable Steamer To Cook Asparagus?

Asparagus contains important vitamins like vitamin A, B6, C, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and pantothenic acid. Asparagus also contains calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, cooper, manganese and selenium. Boiling is one way to cook asparagus, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture states that using large amounts of water kills vitamins C and B. Cooking asparagus in a vegetable steamer can help preserve nutrients, so steam asparagus instead of submerging it in water.

Facts

Steam cooks asparagus by enveloping it in hot vapor. Asparagus is either green or white. White asparagus does not contain chlorophyll like green asparagus, due to the fact that white asparagus is not exposed to sunlight before harvesting, since it grows underground. Cooked asparagus provides you with twice as much of your daily value of vitamin A as uncooked asparagus. The percentage of daily value of vitamin C also increases almost twice as much when asparagus is cooked.

Convenience

Steaming asparagus in a vegetable steamer saves you time and work, and a vegetable steamer gives you the extra cooking space that you need when you have no room left on your stove top for another pot and no room left in your oven for another pan.

Benefits

Asparagus steamed in a vegetable steamer retains most of its flavor and moisture content. Steamed asparagus is very soft on the inside when done and not dry. Steaming asparagus in a vegetable steamer is a fast and low-calorie way to cook the vegetable, since no fats are needed in the steaming process.

Considerations

When fresh asparagus is steamed, some stalks may come out overcooked, while others may not be cooked enough at the end of the cooking time. The reason for this is that some asparagus stalks are considerably thinner than others and require less cooking time. How you lay asparagus in a vegetable-steamer basket will affect steam distribution, which will also affect the outcome of the steaming process. If you pile asparagus stalks in a heap, steam flow may be obstructed.

Suggestions

Separate thin asparagus stalks from thicker stalks. Steam the thick asparagus stalks longer than you would steam the thin stalks. If you have a large quantity of asparagus to steam, lay your first row of asparagus in the steamer basket in a single row. Lay the next layer of asparagus on top of the first, placing the asparagus on top so that the stalks form an X.

Warning

After steaming the asparagus, take care against getting burned from the steam after taking the lid off of the vegetable steamer. Pull the lid up and away quickly to avoid exposing your arm to the hot steam. Also, keep your face away from the top of the steamer after removing the lid.