For a quick, easy-to-prepare entree or side dish, simply wash your favorite vegetables, and place them in a steamer. Steam lightly, so vegetables are crisp and tasty. How long you steam each vegetable depends* on your taste.

Lightly steamed food is generally more nutritious than foods cooked in other ways. With steaming, there aren’t the high temperatures or cooking oil that destroy and leach nutrients out of the food.

My favorite vegetables for steaming include carrots, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, corn and cauliflower.

I put all the vegetables in the steamer at once and steam them together for 10 to 15 minutes. I use a double-decker steamer, putting the lighter, quicker-cooking vegetables on top and the heavier ones on the lower level. BAKED POTATO

A baked potato is a nutritious, low-calorie dish that’s easy to prepare. Preheat oven to 400° Wash and dry the potato; puncture it several times with a fork. Place on baking sheet, tinfoil or oven rack and bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until soft. (Cooking time depends on size of potato and your taste.)

Don’t add butter, sour cream, cheese or other fattening toppings to your potato. Eat it plain or sprinkle on chives, parsley, mint, basil, nonfat yogurt or one of the dressings. Believe me, try it and you’ll love it just this way.

Another tasty way to prepare potatoes is to steam or bake a potato, then cut it into 1/2″ slices. Put the slices on a nonstick pan and bake in the oven.

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