Steaming vegetables is a healthy way to make use of the Steam Mode. Vitamins and nutrients are preserved, flavors are brighter, and you can place many different kinds of vegetables on the same tray. This process also works well for blanching and shocking (a common practice for setting the color of green vegetables). Blanching and shocking can be achieved by just steaming green vegetables for about 2 minutes and then immediately placing the vegetables into ice water to stop the cooking process and set the bright green color. Long steaming processes are also possible for things like “boiling” ears of corn.

BEFORE YOU START: Make use of the solid convection steam oven pan on rack position 1 to act as a drip tray. Steaming provides a fast and healthy way to prepare vegetables, and a benefit of steam is that it doesn’t transfer flavors. A variety of vegetables can be steamed at the same time without crossover of flavors.