Archive for the ‘Microwave’ Category

Warm Overnight Oats with Chickpeas, Pesto and Cheese Picture Directions

Overnight oats with chickpeas, basil pesto and cheese banner with link to picture book recipe

Last post showed how to make a sweet overnight oats recipe: overnight oats with grapes, yogurt, jam & kefir. This post puts a savory twist on those same overnight oats – all very easily and fantastically flavorfully.

Here are the ingredients needed to make overnight oats with chickpeas, pesto & cheese, though I did add a couple ingredients after first shooting the dish as noted below.

Overnight oats with chickpeas, basil pesto and cheese ingredients with link to picture book recipe

I’m what a I call a “peripatetic eater”, or someone who bounces from table to kitchen just a bit during a meal. And you know the deal here: FLAVOR RULES! So, though I liked this dish with just the ingredients above and as shown below,…

Overnight oats with chickpeas, basil pesto, cheese and hot sauce with link to picture book recipe

…I liked it even better – and made it look more photogenic – by just adding chopped jalapeños and sun-dried tomatoes…

Chopped jalapeños and sun-dried tomatoes to add to overnight oats with chickpeas, basil pesto and cheese banner with link to picture book recipe

…to make this.

As I say in the recipe and often here, a recipe is only a guide. The real fun is trying different ingredients to make the flavor of a finished dish all your own both regarding flavor and any dietary restrictions you might have.

Click this link or any picture on this page for a full step-by-step picture book recipe.

Overnight oats with chickpeas, basil pesto and cheese recipe pages with link to the full picture book recipe

Next post will show on an on-the-fly improvisation using leftovers with those same overnight oats.

Quick & Easy Microwave Warmed Spinach & Pear Salad Picture Recipe

Last post showed how to make a quick and easy microwave warmed spinach and apple salad. This post shows how to make a quick and easy microwave warmed spinach and pear salad, which is an example of improvising by changing only two ingredients.

Here are the ingredients I used to make the warmed spinach and apple salad.

All I did to improvise on that salad was substitute a fresh pear for the apple and use dried apricots instead of dried cranberries, as shown below.

ingredients needed to make quick & easy microwave warmed spinach and pear salad

Nothing changes regarding needed equipment. Here’s all you need: microwave oven, microwave safe bowl, colander or strainer, sharp paring knife and cutting board.

Equipment needed to make quick & easy microwave warmed spinach & pear salad

One of the keys to this recipe, just like the warmed spinach and apple salad, is warming the spinach and pear in the microwave oven only until the spinach leaves just start to wilt as shown below, which took only 1 minute in my 1200 Watt microwave oven. As I say in the recipe itself, cooking time will vary depending on your own microwave oven’s Watt power.

spinach and pear are warmed enough when the spinach leaves just start to wilt

Click any picture on this page for a complete, easy to follow picture book recipe.

Quick & Easy Microwave Warmed Spinach & Pear Salad Recipe Pages

More very soon!

Quick & Easy Microwave Warmed Spinach & Apple Salad Picture Recipe

Finished Quick & Easy Microwave Warmed Spinach & Apple Salad

Yep, it’s still winter, and for some of you, it’s still darn cold. A couple weeks ago, after showing how to make very quick and easy, extraordinarily versatile 5-ingredient salad dressings, I said I’d put together some warm spinach salads. This is the first of those recipes: quick and easy microwave warmed spinach and apple salad.

Here are the ingredients I used: fresh spinach, apple, feta cheese, salad dressing, walnuts and dried cranberries. Of course, you can substitute feta cheese, walnuts and dried cranberries however you like to suit your taste and dietary needs,.

Here’s all you need for equipment: microwave oven, microwave safe bowl, colander or strainer, sharp paring knife and cutting board.

One of the keys to this recipe is warming the spinach and apple in the microwave oven only until the spinach leaves just start to wilt as shown below, which took only 1 minute in my 1200 Watt microwave oven. As I say in the recipe itself, cooking time will vary depending on your own microwave oven’s Watt power.

spinach and apple are warmed enough when the spinach leaves just start to wilt

Click any picture on this page for a complete, easy to follow picture book recipe.

images of 3 pages of quick and easy microwave warmed spinach and apple salad picture book recipe

Next up: how to take this quick, easy and fully flavorful warm spinach and apple salad from simple to exciting. All fun!

How to Prevent Splatter Safely When Cooking with a Microwave Oven

As I wrote in February this year, microwave ovens, used as they are designed, are perfectly safe for warming and cooking foods.

But then there’s the issue of how control microwave cooking splatter that is always pure misery to clean. Using any of what you see directly below made of plastic (unless that plastic is clearly certified as “microwave safe”), wax or metal is out.

Plastics from plastic wrap, plastic bags and plastic containers leach what they’re made of, petrochemicals (chemicals made from oil), when heated. The wax from wax paper can melt into microwave cooked foods. Metals, like aluminum foil, reflect microwave energy and, in doing so, will destroy the microwave oven’s energy emitting magnetron – sometimes with spectacular fire. As a good friend would say, “That is NOT good”!

The best solution I’ve found to prevent microwave splatter safely is to cover whatever you’re cooking with a wetted paper towel. Why wet? Because a dry paper towel can slide off a microwave safe plate or bowl, especially if your microwave oven, like the one you see below, has a spinning turntable.

Here’s all you have to do to use this method. Wet and squeeze dry a piece of paper towel.

Cover the bowl or plate with the wetted paper towel the same way you would if you were using plastic wrap, and…

…remove the paper towel after cooking. Easy, safe – and big time splatter avoidance.

Designed by Free Wordpress Themes and Sponsored by Curry and Spice