Thursday, September 5, 2013

Just Nuke it

I love vegetables.  And I mean, I LOOOOOOVE vegetables, pretty much any one you can name.  The only catch is that I prefer mine cooked rather than raw, and my favorite way to cook them is in the microwave.  Zapping them for a few minutes makes them tender crisp, not water-logged or dried out.  I even microwave my salad greens for 45 seconds before dressing them.  If you've never tried it, you would be amazed at the distinctive flavor of Romaine or butter lettuce, something you just can't discern when the greens are ice cold.  And don't even get me started on mushrooms, carrots, celery, sweet and hot peppers, onions, leeks, squash, eeeeeeeeek!

I recently discovered the beauty of microwaving corn on the cob -- four ears, husked, in the microwave for 3 minutes.  Cooked to perfection!  Last night, I tried it with a whole artichoke, one of my favorite things in the world.  I've cooked them in a big pot of simmering water on the stove (30-40 minutes), but this time I just trimmed off the sharp pointy leaves, placed it in a glass bowl with a little water in the bottom, then covered it with a plate.  Twenty minutes later, I had a tender, tasty, perfectly cooked artichoke (and did I mention that bad boy was enormous?!).  After cooking, slide a sharp knife down into the center to be sure the heart is tender. 

Now you can eat your vegetables AND save time!

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