It’s easy to assume that a microwave is only fit for use in preparing very particular foods, given how quickly and easily a microwave can be used compared to an oven.
However, microwaves are actually much more versatile than they are often given credit for. To help illustrate this point, here are some eye-opening examples of food you can make in the microwave.
Foods You Can Cook in The Microwave
Poached eggs
You can use a microwave to make each of these by pouring eight ounces of water into a small bowl or mug and cracking an egg into this liquid before tightly covering the bowl with plastic wrap.
You can then microwave the eggy water in 30-second increments until the egg white is set while the yolk remains runny.
French toast
To make this in the microwave, start by cutting up the bread and placing the pieces — along with other French toast ingredients, including whisked eggs — into a microwave-safe container.
How long you should leave this in the microwave will depend on what type it is, but between two and five minutes is a good guide. You might also be able to speed up the process after selecting a new unit from a wide range of high-quality microwaves available to buy online.
Baked potatoes
While an oven can take up to an hour to bake potatoes, you can significantly slash the cooking time if you use the microwave instead.
“You can easily ‘roast’ a sweet potato or russet potato by poking the potato a few times with a sharp knife to release steam and then putting them on a glass dish or bowl and microwaving for about 10 minutes,” chef Amelia Levin has explained as quoted by HuffPost.
Bloomed spices
You can extract more flavor from dried spices by heating them with some fat.
Levin has recommended that you do this by putting some dried spice and olive oil into a small bowl before microwaving all this for approximately 30 seconds. You will be able to drizzle the results over veggies, meat, and salads.
Bacon slices
Since cooking these on a stove can leave you with a greasy mess to clean up afterwards, you could be heartened to know that a microwave or microwave oven would enable you to prepare these in a much tidier manner.
Insert a few of these slices between paper towel pieces on a plate before putting this in the microwave and leaving it running on high until the bacon slices are crisp.
Poisson en papillote
You can prepare this traditional French fish dish by microwaving a fish wrapped in parchment paper.
“Make sure to add thin slices of potato at the base underneath your fish of choice so you can keep the fish moist and you also get a side dish to your fish,” chef Niko Paranomou has advised INSIDER readers.
Flavored butter
Microwave a stick of cubed unsalted butter for 30-second intervals, at one point stopping to add some salt and fresh sage leaves. Reader’s Digest suggests: “Drizzle on bread for an earthy, savory flavor.”
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