These days it seems more than ever, you can’t countenance a healthy lifestyle if you’re not willing to eat up all your greens. And it’s not only the vegetarians who are saying it: while nobody can agree quite how many vegetables we ought to be eating each day, everyone is unanimous that it must be at least several.
Beans and mushy peas are easy, but they’re not enough, and besides they’re both technically fruits. Sometimes you’ll peel and chew on a raw carrot, on special occasions you might roast a parsnip, and at the burger bar you’re always sure to order up some sweet potato fries. But how do you stop that spinach from overwilting, how do you steam that cauliflower so that it doesn’t taste unevenly cooked, how will the broccoli head not end up all bitty, what way can you find to prevent a too-fibrous mangetout?
The answer is that whether you boil, sauté, or preferably steam your vegetables, you’re just going to have to figure out the method for yourself. Pots and pans, hobs, hotplates, cooktops, and stoves are all different, so offering a catch-all solution for the perfect cabbage for instance, boiled with just a little butter and pepper for fifteen minutes on a low heat, in the end just isn’t going to work. You’ll season your vegetables according to your wishes, and as for timings, you’ll just have to wait and see.
Experiment a little. With patience you’ll discover how long it takes in your steamer for the asparagus to come out just right. It might be seven minutes, it might be eight-and-a-half. Figuring it out isn’t beyond your capabilities. It’s just going to take a smidgeon of effort and a tolerant frame of mind. You know that you should be eating more vegetables, so stop letting a minor quandary about cooking turn you away from a better life.
