I have a stainless steel steamer basket that I have had for years....you can steam with it or add enough water to cover the veggies if you really want to boil them.
if Julia really did say that she thinks vegetables are best cooked in a large quantity of boiling salted water, I will probably have found the one thing that I disagree with her about.
I don't want to pour all that vegetable flavored water down the drain....so I steam in a small amount of water....or roast...or stir fry...or grill...
Linda c

Julia says that in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which was pretty much my main instruction in cooking, lo those many years ago.

That would be a great tool for blanching as well. Quick transfer from boiling water to ice water. Might have to think about getting me one of those!

We discussed this same tool last July when I first joined. I have one and have used it for hardboiled eggs and veggies. Come to think of it - I have not used it in a while.

My favorite thing to use it for is a quick blanch - like for broccoli pieces right before I toss them into a stir fry.

CC, I don't have a cooking pod, but I also agree with Julia, I like vegetables boiled and I want them done, not "crisp tender". Cooked or raw, but nothing in between.

Of course, I also like vegetables baked and roasted and sauteed. I really don't care much for steamed vegetables because they never get done enough! I want them fully cooked and tender, LOL.

I grew up eating boiled vegetables, never even considered that they'd be cooked any other way until I was a teenager. All vegetables were boiled until soft, served buttered, with salt and pepper. Greens got vinegar, but that's about as far as seasoning stretched too.

And so I still like green beans cooked far too long, with some red potatoes added at the end and cooked until tender. Butter, salt and pepper and I'm happy...

So you like the Pod, I'll have to check that out.

Annie

Annie, it would be really convenient for blanching vegetables to freeze. And for skinning tomatoes and peaches, although it doesn't hold a huge amount.

Well that's interesting! Looks like some sort of deep sea diving device.

Does cooking veggies in the microwave count as boiling in lots of hot water? Actually, grilled veggies is my favorite.

I can see where it would come in handy for some things, such as hard cooked eggs, plunging into ice water as soon as cooked, or any vegetable you want still crisp.

As for myself, I'm like Annie, I've boiled vegetables for years and for the most part I like them that way far better than roasted. I like most of them well done. Others I only want crisp tender. I want my green beans cooked to death. I am from the south you know. And I want all of my greens cooked several hours.

I'm trying to figure out how I can use that in my non-kitchen tool box, LOL.

I think a food pod would be a good tool for lasagna noodles.

Not that I have anything against vegetables boiled to death, but I was taught that steaming retains the nutrients.

Like Linda I prefer my old metal steam basket and other than roasted vegetables which we also love, we prefer vegetables steamed until they're done, not crisp but cooked enough and our vegetables certainly taste better to us than when boiled in a lot of water.

I also think the pod would be useful for blanching, although I just use a wire strainer for that.

SharonCb

Jessica, I don't think I'd use it for lasagna noodles; I'd be afraid they'd stick together. Pasta needs freedom! If the food pod came in a larger size, more like the size of the pot, it would be better for pasta.
I think it will be great for not having to fish out plum tomatoes one by one, though.

Usually I'm kind of slow to switch to new tools. I often forget I have them. This one I'm definitely using.

My mother boiled vegetables until they were well done. In fact she boiled broccoli, green beans, asparagus, etc. until they were no longer green.

I fall somewhere in between when it comes to vegetables. I don't want them cooked until they are well done,and soft or mushy, but I also want them some vegetables cooked past the "crisp" stage.

Annie, steaming isn't any different than boiling when it comes to tenderness. If you boil long enough the vegetables will be over done and if you steam long enough the same thing will happen. You can steam or boil to whatever "doneness" you prefer.

Ann

I meant to say that I'm not against boiling, but I do use a steamer. Have for years. I love my All-Clad steam baskets. I have two baskets one that will fit in difference size pots.

Ann

Years ago my mother had what was advertised as a "waterless cooker". It was a very heavy aluminum pan with a tightly fitting lid. You could cook vegetables in that with little more than the water clinging to them from washing....and as the literature said, "not be pouring vitamins and minerals down the drain". That's when I became a convert and actually began to like vegetables.
The only vegetables I actually submerge in water and boil any more are the onions, carrots potatoes and cabbage in the New England boiled dinner.
Speaking of...isn't it about time again for the corned beef? yes!!

Ann T. I don't have a steamer, but anytime I've been served steamed vegetables they were just about warm, and always hard and crunchy. Sometimes they aren't even warmed through the middle. "crisp tender", I'm told. If I want raw vegetables I'll eat them raw and then they're supposed to be cold.

I don't want things cooked to a mush, but I do want them tender. Oh, except green beans and collard greens, I want those cooked a long time, for some reason. Probably because my grandmother was taught to cook by her stepmother, who came from Kentucky.

So, since I've never had a seamed vegetable tht I thought was worth eating, in a restaurant or otherwise, I've never bothered to buy a steamer or use one. One more reason to cook at home and stay out of restaurants, I suppose, but I really do not need one more single kitchen device to have to store, so I guess I'll keep on boiling vegetables in Julia Child memory...

LindaC, we didn't pour the vitamins and minerals down the drain, we cooked the vegetables until the water was gone. LOL No, that's not true, Grandma used it as a base for soup stock. Nothing that had any food value or use ever got discarded.

And that waterless cookware is till around, Amanda had some woman come to the house, she said you got a free dinner "cooked by a chef" to demonstrate their cookware. The stuff was $1500.00 for a set and the lovely dinner "cooked by a chef" was a plain chicken breast, some broccoli with no seasoning at all, and boiled potatoes. Yup. I found the same set on Amazon for $139 and the supper was absolutely terrible. I gave the "chef" a verbal explanation of seasoning and asked about her culinary training while Amanda melted some cheese so that the broccoli was at least edible. The potatoes were saved with a bit of salt and pepper but the chicken was a total loss, even brushed with BBQ sauce. They became dog food. Then I had a rousing discussion with the "chef" over why Amanda shouldn't toss out her nice Calphalon that I'd gotten her, although the "chef" busily explained how we were all going to get Alzheimer's and Cancer by using those Calphalon pans. (grin) Anyway, you can still get waterless cookware, if you want some.

And so, again, to each their own tastes.

Annie

AAh....you're talking about Saladmaster...made out of surgical steel and sold by multilevel marketing!
That's nonsense....as I am sure you have discovered.
Try cooking your veggies in a very little bit of water and tossing the pan as you go, or cook them in a covered glass dish in the microwave being very careful not to overcook.
Saying you don't like steamed veggies just because you had them poorly done is rather like saying you don't like steak because all your mother cooked was round steak, over done.
Try steaming vegetables, you will be surprised at how much flavor is retained.

Thanks, I'll just keep boiling them because I like them that way and won't have to buy a steamer, and you can have all my lamb chops to go with your steamed vegetables. LOL

You do them your way and we'll both be eating our vegetables and then the USDA will be happy and so will all those vegetable farmers.

Ythis was like the Saladmaster stuff, they called it "Healthy Chef" or "Healthy Kitchens" or similar. The stuff they were selling was made in Tennessee, I think. I had to laugh, because I thought "boy, this stuff has been around a million years and they still have the same food!"

the pod, though, that looks like it would make a nice utensil for dunking peaches and tomatoes for peeling, and wouldn't take up a lot of room, although I can just put those items into a pot of boiling water and fish them out with a slotted spoon, like I've been doing all my life.

Annie

Annie, I wasn't trying to tell you how to cook your vegetables or that you should buy a steamer.

I just wanted to correct a wrong conception that steamed vegetables tend to be crisp or undercooked. That has nothing to do with the steaming method. You can over cook or undercook with steaming just as you can with boiling.

Ann

Waterless cookware has been around long before saladmaster. Mom had a set of FlavorSeal she bought in 1953. It is still going strong and in my kitchen and i have added to it with some saladmaster, vitacraft, aristocraft, and a few other brands of waterless cookware at the thriftstore. They are well built and i know what i have in my hand as soon as i pick one up, they are quite a bit thicker than your normal pot such as revereware tho revereware did produce a line of waterless cookware...i have seen them at the thrifts. The revereware waterless pots are not as thick as other brands and i did find a brand named Flint that has very thin waterless pots.

So my steamer/blancher basket is stainless, i don't do much steaming in them but they come in handy to boil my reusable handwarmers. Lol

I guess I might be the only dissenter - I only steam veggies until they are barely or not quite fork tender (because they continue to cook a bit off the stove). I really dislike boiled/overcooked vegetables, never boil, and never salt them.

I also like vegetables to be crisp, although I like broccoli stems well done, and so when I coo them, I put the tough stems in a small amount of water (sometimes with celery and onion), boil that for about ten minutes, and then I put the florets in a steamer basket above the boiling stems. I use the cooking water to make a velouté sauce for it, which is what my Alsatian grandmother always did with her vegetables. She never threw out cooking water, and she saved potato water for bread dough.

For green beans, I just blanch them briefly, shock them in ice water, and then microwave them to heat just before serving, making sure they are still crisp.

Oly, I am right there with you!! Nothing is worse than overcooked veggies! The only veg that gets close to boiling water in my kitchen is corn on the cob and even that for the least amount of time to soften and heat the kernals. I don't even like boiled potatoes unless they get converted to mashed :-)) Otherwise, all veggies get steamed or sauteed or roasted/grilled.

Boiling vegetables just leaches all the nutrients and color from them.