Those mixed veg microwave bags...

[SideWinder]

I think they're great but is microwaving vegetables a healthy thing to do? Does it retain all the nutriments or am i better off boiling or steaming?

They're just so handy and a good portion size so i'm living off them at the moment...bit pricey obviously.

 

[d_brennen]

It's no better or worse than steaming, and probably a bit better nutrient wise than boiling.

 

[Maccapacca]

There's next to no nutrients in modern hydroponically or mass produced varieties of vegetables in comparison to home grown organic traditional varieties, I doubt microwaving / steaming them would make much of a difference.

You can always make your own up with selected veg of your choice, then you have the best of both worlds

http://shop.planitproducts.co.uk/ep...45_shop/Categories/quickasteam_microwave_bags

 

[Tenuous]

There's next to no nutrients in modern hydroponically or mass produced varieties of vegetables in comparison to home grown organic traditional varieties, I doubt microwaving / steaming them would make much of a difference.

Got any evidence to back that up? The Food Standards Agency suggest it makes no difference.

 

[Maccapacca]

Maybe I painted the wrong picture of what I meant, it wasn't an organic vs argument it was a then and now argument.

The Organic Consumers Association cites several other studies with similar findings: A Kushi Institute analysis of nutrient data from 1975 to 1997 found that average calcium levels in 12 fresh vegetables dropped 27 percent; iron levels 37 percent; vitamin A levels 21 percent, and vitamin C levels 30 percent. A similar study of British nutrient data from 1930 to 1980, published in the British Food Journal,found that in 20 vegetables the average calcium content had declined 19 percent; iron 22 percent; and potassium 14 percent.

Yet another study concluded that one would have to eat eight oranges today to derive the same amount of Vitamin A as our grandparents would have gotten from one.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=soil-depletion-and-nutrition-loss

There may be no difference in two veggies grown in the same soil, one grown 'organically' however I'm quite an advocate of not buying tasteless asparagus from Peru in December and more of a fan of local grown in season veg, we have a small place that sells Demeter veg and I try and shop there for topping up my weekly Riverford organic veg box delivery.

 

[Tenuous]

Taste is an entirely different issue (along with avoiding pesticide residue etc). Organic producers are more likely to pick varieties for taste rather than yield.

 

[Sunbed]

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=soil-depletion-and-nutrition-loss

There may be no difference in two veggies grown in the same soil, one grown 'organically' however I'm quite an advocate of not buying tasteless asparagus from Peru in December and more of a fan of local grown in season veg, we have a small place that sells Demeter veg and I try and shop there for topping up my weekly Riverford organic veg box delivery.

If you're advocating local, seasonal veg for taste reasons then fair enough. I'd agree with that but saying there is "no nutrients" in mass produced veg I would think is just plain wrong. The source you linked to is awful and the sources it attempts to reference are awful too.

I would say the microwave bags the OP is asking about are a pretty convenient way to eat veg and get nutrients, fibre etc. I wouldn't rely on it solely for my weekly veg intake but it's a good start.

 

[swiftmetal]

Personally i think it is better to microwave them because I have found that most people over cook vegetables when boiling them.

 

[monkentage]

It depends on what you're cooking. Microwaving veg can potentially leech out a lot of the nutritional content but it depends on how much liquid the veg comes in contact with. Microwaving tomatoes actually increases nutritional content due to how lycopene is modified by heat. However if you're microwaving something like broccoli and adding a bit of water it can leech out a lot of its nutritional content.

This article is a pretty good explanation.

 

[hood1971]

Taste is an entirely different issue (along with avoiding pesticide residue etc). Organic producers are more likely to pick varieties for taste rather than yield.

I work for a large soft fruit producer (strawberry, raspberry etc) and we grow the hardiest varieties for organics, and they are definitely not the best tasting - rather they are the easiest to grow. Our early season old english fragrant varieties are by far the best tasting but are poor sellers as they don't always look perfect.

 

[Liquid_Entity]

boil veg, use water for gravy = win

 

[Diagro]

boil veg, use water for gravy = win

+1

 

[pitchfork]

Those microwave bags are grim, it's like tinned veg man, tasteless.

It's not like you can't just buy some veg and steam it on the hob, takes next to no effort and you actually get the flavour of fresh veg.

 

[Tenuous]

I work for a large soft fruit producer (strawberry, raspberry etc) and we grow the hardiest varieties for organics, and they are definitely not the best tasting - rather they are the easiest to grow. Our early season old english fragrant varieties are by far the best tasting but are poor sellers as they don't always look perfect.

Interesting and that does make sense if you're doing it as a large scale thing. I was thinking of a more romantic market gardener type organic producer I guess, which is probably what all the big organic producers want people to think of too

 

[hood1971]

Interesting and that does make sense if you're doing it as a large scale thing. I was thinking of a more romantic market gardener type organic producer I guess, which is probably what all the big organic producers want people to think of too

True - we market ourselves as a family concern, which it is (Father, Mother and Son partnership) but we don't advertise that it is 50mill turnover concern. Problem is that most supermarket organic lines are produced by larger concerns as supermarkets need to rely on constant supply.

 

[pitchfork]

Yeah, I can't remember the last modern cookbook I read "if in season" or "if you can get them" in.

Seasonality has died and we're eating ****e veg because of it.

 

[Sunbed]

I work for a large soft fruit producer (strawberry, raspberry etc) and we grow the hardiest varieties for organics, and they are definitely not the best tasting - rather they are the easiest to grow. Our early season old english fragrant varieties are by far the best tasting but are poor sellers as they don't always look perfect.

This annoys me. I get this impression across all the major supermarkets, for pretty much all fruit and veg. Supermarkets should do more to market 'taste' rather than how it looks on the shelves.

For example: Apples. The large supermarkets do not do enough to advertise how awesome english apples are. Russets may look ugly, but they can taste so much better than all the other standard apples which are bred for storage and deliberately picked too early e.g. Golden delicious.

If I owned a supermarket I'd have a section dedicated to the best tasting, seasonal fruit and veg, regardless of how it looked. And I'd make a big fuss about it.

 

[krooton]

Yeah, I can't remember the last modern cookbook I read "if in season" or "if you can get them" in.

Really? I have at least 5 from the past few years that do just that.

 

[a1ex2001]

Those microwave bags are grim, it's like tinned veg man, tasteless.

It's not like you can't just buy some veg and steam it on the hob, takes next to no effort and you actually get the flavour of fresh veg.

That makes no sense it's exactly the sme veg you would but from the super market except it's in little plastic bags and you microwave them.

I've microwaved fresh veg off my allotment and it tastes no different to boiling it or steaming it.

 

[Imy]

With these microwaveable bags, is the water mixed directly with the veg? Isn't that boiling rather than steaming?

I use this 3 part plastic microwave steaming tub. You put water into the bottom part, veg into the perforated middle part which is not in direct contact with the water and a lid to keep the steam locked in.