LéKué Healthful Cooking

by Ann

It’s fun to get packages delivered to the door.  It’s even more fun when they are surprises or free!  Those of you who are our faithful readers you know that Sheila, Heather and I are trying to grow our blog, and are changing the format somewhat.  If you missed the details and our interested in our changes, go back to my post from last Wednesday.

One of my personal goals is to review products that would be of interest to our readers.  My motivation for this is threefold.  I want to spread the word about products available to make life more convenient, beautiful, or fun; for inspiration for blog topics; and to get exciting “stuff in the mail.”  The day after last week’s post the Fed Ex guy came to my door with a package I had not expected; a sample product sent because of my Kitchen Assistant position with Sur la Table (click to see related post).  Receiving it made me even more anxious to start reviewing products on the blog, so here goes!

The product I received was a LéKué (pronounced lay-kway) silicon steam case with tray.  Although I had seen these in the store I hadn’t looked hard at them, thinking it wasn’t something I needed.  Using the product proved that theory wrong! 

When I first opened it, based upon its appearance I assumed that it was a microwave cooker, which it is, but is also much more.  Because it is made of surgical-grade platinum silicone it can go in the refrigerator, freezer, microwave, or oven up to 425°.

The version I received was clear with an orange removable tray.

I went on the Sur la Table website to find out about this product and found that LéKué produces a wide range of silicone kitchen products, and that this cooker can be purchased in multiple sizes, for which I received the 1-2 person version.  I then went on the LéKué website to see their more about this European company and its products.   

Both websites I visited had short helpful videos related to the use and care of the product.  The Sur la Table video showed preparing a piece of fish, which inspired me to do the same.  But first I wanted to steam up some spinach to go with the fish.  (Already looks like I need two of these – one for the veggies and one for the entrée.)

I used simple but flavorful ingredients to cook with a piece of salmon.  My hubby cut a shallot and a few small peppers into slivers and minced some fresh ginger.  I added the ginger to a mixture of low sodium soy sauce and a bit of honey to pour over the fish/veggie combination.  Yum.

I wanted to see how the device worked in the toaster oven, so put the prepared the fish to cook at 400°.  After seeing that the tray was not damaged in any way at that temperature for about five minutes my curiosity was satisfied, but we were ready to eat and the fish not quite done.  So, I finished it off in the microwave for another minute, which resulted in perfection.  The flavors were well melded and delicious.

Served with fresh pasta (from a cooking class) and spinach, half of a piece of fish apiece was perfect!

To clean, it went straight in the dishwasher, and came out looking like new.  The LéKué brand claims that by using this steamer foods are able to cook in their own juices and that healthy cooking need not be boring or bland.  My experiment with a somewhat bold mix of ingredients proved this to be true!

I hope to be reviewing more products in the near future, and will categorize them under our "Finds" listing at the top of our site.
Stay tuned to see what further surprises the Fed Ex man brings!