cooking tool. For one, it’s nearly impossible to brown foods
in it in a satisfactory way. Meat cooks fast but comes out
flaccid and anemic looking. What it is good for is heating up
liquids, reheating leftovers when you don’t care too much
about exterior texture, and steaming vegetables. The last is
the use I put it to most.
See, just as with brief blanching, the goal of steaming is to
very lightly cook vegetables just until they lose their raw
taste, but not until they begin to turn mushy. Since a
microwave very efficiently and rapidly uses the liquid inside
the vegetables themselves to heat them from the inside, you
can micro-steam vegetables in a matter of minutes.
MICRO-STEAMING VEGETABLES
To micro-steam, lay vegetables in a single layer on a
microwave-safe plate. Cover them with a triple layer of
damp paper towels. Microwave on high heat until the
vegetables are tender, 2½ to 6 minutes, depending on the
power of your microwave.
VEGETABLE HOW TO
PREPARESPECIAL
INSTUCTIONSAsparagus Peel the
fibrous skin
off the stalks,
starting from