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The first thing I bought for myself,
when I moved out on my own, into my very own private apartment without
weird roommates, was a microwave. I bought a microwave before I bought
a couch, or lamps, or a garbage bin. My planning went along the lines
of "I love popcorn and frozen dinners are easy and I must have a way to
reheat leftover Chinese food!" and my purchase was guaranteed. It was a
tiny little low-watt thing, for not many dollars, and I dragged it
across the country with me to San Francisco, and then back a little
ways, to Utah.
I love my microwave, and I have reheated countless dumplings and piles of sweet and sour chicken and many, many bags of popcorn, cocoa from a packet, instant oatmeals. The microwave got far, far more use than any of the pans that came in my Kitchen Starter Kit. Trying to eat more healthily, to actually cook for myself--plus learning that microwave popcorn (full of fiber!) is not so good for you--has meant that my microwave use has dropped off sharply. I'd say it was pretty much a clock that takes up way too much room in the corner of the counter, except that the clock keeps losing minutes and currently insists that it's 4:35 last Tuesday. Microwaves aren't for real cooking! Except Mark Bittman tells me that it doesn't have to be useless, my microwave--the microwave, he says, does some things, very, very well. It is the way to cook vegetables, and not just in those fancy frozen vegetable steam bags that sell for triple the amount of money. Bittman writes about parboiling potatoes, cooking up rice, baking delicious puddings, and finishes with a recipe for eggplant that makes me want to actually eat eggplant (because I won't be sitting and crying over a pan of watery pulp). And then I will make some cocoa for dessert. 5 CommentsLeave a comment |
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FEED ME
My aunt insists that anything worth cooking can be made in the microwave. Scrambled eggs. Veggies. Cheesecake. Jam.
Who knew you could get passable jam without worrying about pectin and mason jars and all that? She rehydrated dried apricots, added a little water, and popped it in the microwave.
When my boy and I moved out to Chicago, our first priority was getting the gas turned on for the stove (which took way too long and too many days of no hot food). That was when we most noticed the lack of microwave. But since we're both kind of lazy/procrastinators on such things, we never got around to getting a microwave. Eventually I just asked "Do we really need one?" To which the answer was "eh, not really". The only thing I've found is a real pain to reheat without one is leftover Asian food. Most other things either go in a pan or the oven, or else they're good cold. It's kind of weird now when I go somewhere that does have one. But it's good to know there's that many options!
I don't own a microwave (by choice, but I'll keep my hippie-girl health thoughts to myself :) and I haven't honestly missed it very much. Re-heating leftovers is a bit of a pain, but I prefer the taste of them done on my stove or toaster oven to the taste of microwaved leftovers. Sometimes I fold and use the microwave at work, though. Ironically, my first purchase in my early 20s when I first moved out was a microwave, too. Mine was electric blue, which I thought was awesome at the time.
I'm another one who lives sans microwave. The Beard and I had one for ages, but it took up sooooo much counter space that we wouldn't have in the new house so we ditched it before we moved. Things are so much tastier when cooked in the oven or warmed on the stove. I love stovetop popcorn so much more than I ever did the microwave sort. But the lack of microwave works for me and I get that it wouldn't work for everyone.
I use my microwave every day to steam vegetables and sweet potatoes, which is does very, very well, and the veg stays nice and hot. It's a powerful model, though. I've always got a container of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots in my fridge and sweet potatoes so that I can put a good healthy (tasty) meal together in about fifteen minutes (if I'm baking salmon or something like that).
I do wonder sometimes if the radiation is something to worry, about, but right now--it helps me cook good stuff very quickly, and it's been a great thing to have around (and the easy clean-up doesn't hurt either).