This is why you should start cooking your vegetables in sparkling water

Cooking vegetables is an art. Look away for a moment and you’ll find yourself standing over a pan of wilted, mushy vegetables that have had all their colorful life boiled out of them. So how do you make sure your cooked vegetables retain their beautiful color and stay crisp? The answer: cook them in sparkling water. Really.

I’m sure of it: everyone has had limp green beans, dull cauliflower or mushy broccoli at some point in their life. They’re childhood traumas we never completely get over. But honestly… Now that I prepare my own food every day, I do understand the struggles of grandmothers and mothers. It really isn’t that ridiculously simple to cook your vegetables perfectly, with a lovely color and a crisp bite. The secret sparkling-water trick is your solution. That way, overcooked, colorless vegetables will forever become a vague childhood memory.

Let the bubbles do their thing

You have to admit: vegetables with vibrant colors look much more appealing, right? That’s exactly what sparkling water provides. Sparkling water slows down the oxidation of vegetables—in other words, the process that makes vegetables dull and brown. So if you cook your vegetables in it, they retain their optimal color. They almost look as though you’ve blanched them.

The bubbles in sparkling water also help your cooked vegetables stay wonderfully crisp. When exposed to high temperatures, the bubbles in sparkling water expand. This creates an airy consistency, helping the vegetables retain their bite. Another nice bonus: this process even helps vegetables hold on to their vitamins and minerals. So you’re being healthy, too!

Cooking in sparkling water

How do you cook vegetables in sparkling water? Simple: replace the tap water with sparkling water. The only difference is that your vegetables will be done much faster in sparkling water than when you cook them in tap water. If cooking carrots and pumpkin in tap water takes 15 minutes, you’ll be finished in 5 minutes with sparkling water. So keep a close eye on your vegetables while they’re cooking. Oh, and watch out for excessive foam. Sparkling water can, after all… get quite bubbly.

Also read:

• 8 tips to make everyday cooking more fun and easier
• Very bizarre trend: “cooking” burgers in water
• Fact or fiction: is Spa Rood (or other sparkling water) bad for your teeth?

Source: Tasting Table