Very Minimalist-Microwave Cooking

April 9, 2012 11:10 AM

Microwave-only 'real', healthy cooking-- give me tips,resources and recipes.

I live in a hotel Monday through Thursday that has a sink, a fridge and a microwave. I love cooking and I'd like to eat healthier--but this is more about the cooking aspect than the eating aspect. What should I cook? Not looking for premade stuff, but something that requires some assembly, at least.

I can bring utensils and some cutting stuff each week, but rather not much more.

posted by sandmanwv to food & drink (12 answers total)

Muffin in a Minute

1 tsp butter
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup flax seed meal
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sweetener (I use honey, can use sugar, splenda, etc.)
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/4 banana, mashed (optional)
chopped pecans (optional)

In large microwaveable bowl, melt butter. Add egg, mix well. Add flax seed meal, baking powder, sweetener, cinnamon, banana and pecans. Mix well.

Microwave on high for 1 minute. If muffin looks too wet, microwave for a little longer (30 second increments).

Eat right out of the mug if you want. I love mine with cream cheese smothered on it. Mmmmmmm.

You can also do variations on this - exclude bananas and pecans, go plain, or add blueberries instead for a blueberry muffin. I once heard of someone adding cheese and garlic for a more "lunch" type muffin.

(Recipe found here)
posted by Sassyfras at 11:41 AM on April 9, 2012 [6 favorites]

Since I love my veggies, I find that I can have a heaping bowl of spinach or broccoli for dinner and be pretty happy. I get a bag of spinach, wash it well, and microwave it in a bowl while still wet for about 3=4 minutes. I then drain it, salt it, sometimes cheat and throw on some garlic powder and maybe some butter.
Same treatment with the broccoli, only I buy a whole head and chop it up.
If you invest in one of these you can add your microwaved veggies to some pasta with some parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper and have a more coomplete dinner.
If you're craving some meat I think maybe adding some pre=cooked chorizo that you've heated, or even experiment with some shrimp..though be careful and set time limits/power lower, as I can see the shrimp getting rubbery quickly.
Scrambled ggs are also pretty easy to cook in the microwave, just check them frequently.
posted by newpotato at 11:47 AM on April 9, 2012

Microwave banana-oatmeal cakes- mush a banana and half a cup of oatmeal together, with sugar/cinnamon/ginger to taste. Microwave 2-4 mins depending how mushy you like it.

This is my default breakfast, and some people up the amount of oatmeal and time in the microwave to make something stable enough to eat as energy bars during the day.
posted by pickingupsticks at 12:14 PM on April 9, 2012

I make eggs and bacon in the microwave (I consider these healthy, although others may not).

*Eggs: Break egg, put in coffee cup without breaking yolk, COVER loosely, microwave until yolk is firm. This is perfect for an egg sandwich.

*Bacon: Put on plate between 2 paper towels, microwave until it's sizzling and looks done.
posted by coolguymichael at 12:15 PM on April 9, 2012

Couscous is great for microwave cooking, because all you have to do is boil water and wait. To make it delicious, chop up onion, carrot, and broccoli bits, and toss into the water when you microwave it. You can really add whatever you want - ham, sausage, chunks of tofu, chopped meat. Notably, the thing that makes this taste like "food" instead of "ingredients" is the seasoning; presumably the kitchenette has salt and pepper; you might consider buying a spice blend you like and bringing your shaker along.

Make chili by dicing (half) an onion and microwaving in a big bowl till slightly soft, dumping a can of diced tomatoes, a drained can of kidney beans, and heating it all up. But you need chili powder... which can be bought by the packet, I guess, but I'd be more inclined to just drop the jar in my luggage. 2 servings, so you'd have to heat it up again the next day. Chopped chicken sausages and grated cheese on top optional.

Frozen or refrigerated ravioli say on the package to boil in a saucepan, but the one-bowl method is to microwave with half a jar of spaghetti sauce and 2 tablespoons of water.
posted by aimedwander at 12:18 PM on April 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

You can make lovely, moist salmon filet in the microwave. Just season, add a bit of butter on top, put in a lidded dish, and cook on high for 3 to 4 minutes.
posted by Dragonness at 12:18 PM on April 9, 2012

Sweet potatoes (or plain potatoes) with cheese and broccoli, or yogurt and chives, or little things of chili. All are pretty complete meals, and delicious.
posted by ldthomps at 12:21 PM on April 9, 2012

You can steam most things in the microwave. Tofu with soy sauce and hot sauce is my emergency meal. Add some frozen vegetables and you're all set!

Eggplant is also great microwaved -- even Mark Bittman thinks so!
posted by snickerdoodle at 3:46 PM on April 9, 2012

Chop an onion, microwave in with a good wodge of butter in a closed container for 4-odd minutes; add a can of tomatoes, keep going in the microwave for fifteen to twenty minutes -- the tomatoes will break down and you have a fairly good, albeit simple, soup.
posted by kmennie at 6:03 PM on April 9, 2012

Seconding the veggies -- but to eliminate the need for the knife, buy them in the bags at the grocery store. Brocolli florets, cauliflower florets, or mixed Brocolli, Cauliflower and Carrots. Puncture bag, toss in microwave for 3 minutes, dump on your favorite flavoring (I like salad dressing), and eat.
posted by bluesky78987 at 6:14 PM on April 9, 2012

Basic quesadilla (tortillas and shredded cheese). It can be spruced up with an avocado, jarred salsa. If you have a napkin or paper towel on hand it will help to wrap it in that to cut down on the moisture.

Ramen also makes a decent soup if you add fresh veggies, use only about a 1/10th of the seasoning packet. At home I usually tossed in some quick cooking fish but little precooked shrimp would work well here.

Smoked salmon is also a good no-cook meat (great on bagels, even good in quesadillas).
posted by ejaned8 at 8:27 AM on April 10, 2012

Everything you need to know is in The Microwave Gourmet by Barbara Kafka.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:47 PM on April 10, 2012