Microwave cooking & nutrition

I never realized that you can cook just about any damn thing in the
microwave. Veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, string beans, etc.) come in
packages ready to be thrown in the microwave. I've been cooking meat like
crazy in the microwave, and its really not that bad at all (once you get the
hang of it). Cleanup is really easy, wayyy easier than washing out a frying
pan.

I did a little googling. There are two camps: extremist who swear microwaves
will kill us, and seemingly rational sites such as the two below.

Mike

http://www.ynhh.org/online/nutrition...microwave.html
snip Nutritional benefits of microwaving:
Although you may think that microwaving is an "easy-way-out," using a
microwave to cook your food has its nutritional benefits. More vitamins and
minerals are retained with microwave cooking than with many other methods of
cooking. This is because microwave cooking requires a shorter cooking time,
covered cooking and little to no water. /snip

http://www.foodscience.csiro.au/micwave1.htm
snip Microwave cooking and nutrition:
The majority of reports published on the nutritive value of foods cooked in
microwave ovens indicate that food prepared in this manner is at least as
nutritious as comparable food cooked by conventional methods.

Most of these studies have concentrated on vitamin retention and indicate
that cooking in minimal water for a reduced time, as occurs with
microwaving, promotes the retention of the water- soluble vitamins
particularly of vitamin C and thiamin. Microwave cooking is preferable to
boiling to minimise the leaching of vitamins into the cooking water; in this
regard it is similar to steaming./snip

Veggies don't even have to be frozen first. I nuke my squash, cauliflower,
broccoli, Brussels Sprouts. Put in a pan with a little bit of water, cover
and nuke. I don't do meat in the microwave, I much prefer the browning you
get from a cast iron frying pan or the oven. The cast iron pan is easy to
clean, run some hot water in it, let it sit for a few minutes, run well with
a plastic scrubber, rinse in hot water, sit back on the stove to dry.
Baking pans can go in the dishwasher. Sometimes I do meat in liquid as
well, like a pot roast in red wine, things like that take a long slow
simmer. Cleaning a pan for something like that can be amortized over the
several servings it makes. But I do use the microwave a lot, I also cook
rice and potatoes for my skinny SO. And it's great for heating leftovers.

em wrote:
| I never realized that you can cook just about any damn thing in the
| microwave. Veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, string beans, etc.) come in
| packages ready to be thrown in the microwave. I've been cooking meat
| like crazy in the microwave, and its really not that bad at all (once
| you get the hang of it). Cleanup is really easy, wayyy easier than
| washing out a frying pan.
|
| I did a little googling. There are two camps: extremist who swear
| microwaves will kill us, and seemingly rational sites such as the two
| below.
|
| Mike
|
| http://www.ynhh.org/online/nutrition...microwave.html
| snip Nutritional benefits of microwaving:
| Although you may think that microwaving is an "easy-way-out," using a
| microwave to cook your food has its nutritional benefits. More
| vitamins and minerals are retained with microwave cooking than with
| many other methods of cooking. This is because microwave cooking
| requires a shorter cooking time, covered cooking and little to no
| water. /snip
|
| http://www.foodscience.csiro.au/micwave1.htm
| snip Microwave cooking and nutrition:
| The majority of reports published on the nutritive value of foods
| cooked in microwave ovens indicate that food prepared in this manner
| is at least as nutritious as comparable food cooked by conventional
| methods.
|
| Most of these studies have concentrated on vitamin retention and
| indicate that cooking in minimal water for a reduced time, as occurs
| with microwaving, promotes the retention of the water- soluble
| vitamins particularly of vitamin C and thiamin. Microwave cooking is
| preferable to boiling to minimise the leaching of vitamins into the
| cooking water; in this regard it is similar to steaming./snip

On Dec 8, 7:00 pm, Marengo wrote:
On Sat, 08 Dec 2007 23:10:32 GMT, "FOB"
wrote:

Veggies don't even have to be frozen first. I nuke my squash, cauliflower,
broccoli, Brussels Sprouts. Put in a pan with a little bit of water, cover
and nuke.

Yep, that;'s what I do also. It actually steams them.

Agree, it works well for vegetables. Also great for warming most
foods up or thawing them out. But I draw the line at cooking meat
as the results are not even close to what you get using a traditional
cooking method. Cleaning a pan is a small price to pay for the taste
and appearance difference.

Here's a tip for cleaning out a heavily soild pot or one you let get
burned. Sprinkle some dishwasher detergent in the pot and cover it
with an inch or so of water. Bring it to a boil, cover, reduce heat
and let it just simmer for about 1/2 an hour, maybe an hour if it's
real bad. It loosens stuff up so it then comes out very easily.
You can also use one of the dishwasher tablets.

But don't do that with cast iron, it will ruin the seasoned finish, you
should never use any detergent on cast iron.

wrote:
| Agree, it works well for vegetables. Also great for warming most
| foods up or thawing them out. But I draw the line at cooking meat
| as the results are not even close to what you get using a traditional
| cooking method. Cleaning a pan is a small price to pay for the taste
| and appearance difference.
|
| Here's a tip for cleaning out a heavily soild pot or one you let get
| burned. Sprinkle some dishwasher detergent in the pot and cover it
| with an inch or so of water. Bring it to a boil, cover, reduce heat
| and let it just simmer for about 1/2 an hour, maybe an hour if it's
| real bad. It loosens stuff up so it then comes out very easily.
| You can also use one of the dishwasher tablets.

On Sun, 9 Dec 2007 05:55:57 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Dec 8, 7:00 pm, Marengo wrote:
On Sat, 08 Dec 2007 23:10:32 GMT, "FOB"
wrote:

Veggies don't even have to be frozen first. I nuke my squash, cauliflower,
broccoli, Brussels Sprouts. Put in a pan with a little bit of water, cover
and nuke.

Yep, that;'s what I do also. It actually steams them.

Agree, it works well for vegetables. Also great for warming most
foods up or thawing them out. But I draw the line at cooking meat
as the results are not even close to what you get using a traditional
cooking method. Cleaning a pan is a small price to pay for the taste
and appearance difference.

Here's a tip for cleaning out a heavily soild pot or one you let get
burned. Sprinkle some dishwasher detergent in the pot and cover it
with an inch or so of water. Bring it to a boil, cover, reduce heat
and let it just simmer for about 1/2 an hour, maybe an hour if it's
real bad. It loosens stuff up so it then comes out very easily.
You can also use one of the dishwasher tablets.


You can use vinegar, also.


--
BlueBrooke
254/225/135

FOB wrote:
Veggies don't even have to be frozen first. I nuke my squash, cauliflower,
broccoli, Brussels Sprouts. Put in a pan with a little bit of water, cover
and nuke. I don't do meat in the microwave, I much prefer the browning you
get from a cast iron frying pan or the oven. The cast iron pan is easy to
clean, run some hot water in it, let it sit for a few minutes, run well with
a plastic scrubber, rinse in hot water, sit back on the stove to dry.
Baking pans can go in the dishwasher. Sometimes I do meat in liquid as
well, like a pot roast in red wine, things like that take a long slow
simmer. Cleaning a pan for something like that can be amortized over the
several servings it makes. But I do use the microwave a lot, I also cook
rice and potatoes for my skinny SO. And it's great for heating leftovers.

That's how I cook, sometimes two or three main dishes at a time, then do
a big batch of dishes and it's nuking leftovers all week and very easy.

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/

wrote

But I draw the line at cooking meat
as the results are not even close to what you get using a traditional
cooking method.

The meat browns fine, not like it does in a frying pay, but its a different
way to cook. The meat doesn't dry out if you cook in a covered container; in
fact, you may need to drain the container mid-way through the process. I
think proper seasoning is critical and I'm working on that. Have you tried
cooking meat in a microwave? Did you try experimenting for a while to get it
right? Things didn't work out too well the first few times I did it, but as
I experiment the results are getting better.

How do you keep it from getting done in the middle? I like steaks, burgers
and lamb chops a bit rare in the middle. I do cook bacon in the microwave.

em wrote:
|
| The meat browns fine, not like it does in a frying pay, but its a
| different way to cook. The meat doesn't dry out if you cook in a
| covered container; in fact, you may need to drain the container
| mid-way through the process. I think proper seasoning is critical and
| I'm working on that. Have you tried cooking meat in a microwave? Did
| you try experimenting for a while to get it right? Things didn't work
| out too well the first few times I did it, but as I experiment the
| results are getting better.

"FOB" wrote in message
. net...
How do you keep it from getting done in the middle? I like steaks,
burgers
and lamb chops a bit rare in the middle. I do cook bacon in the
microwave.

I have no idea. I can get the meat to cook thouroughly and evenly. I'm not
much of a chef :-)) Even when I fry food, I just cook it on one side, flip
it over and cook it on the other side.

For a 1.5#, 1.5" thick steak, what I do, for example, is put some peanut oil
in the bottom of a tupperware-type container. I lay the meat down in the oil
and then flip it over to coat both sides. Then I season the meat with
pepper, basil, etc. I seal the top on the tupperware and then lift one
corner to let the steam out. I cook on high for 5-6 minutes, turn it over
and then cook it on high for another 5 minutes.

I also cook eggs in the microwave. Not the same as frying, but... well, its
easy to do & easy to clean up.

Mike

em wrote:
I also cook eggs in the microwave. Not the same as frying, but... well,
its easy to do & easy to clean up.

I sometimes "bake" in the microwave. Here's some recipes I posted to
alt.food.diabetic recently. Note they contain total carb counts, not
net carbs.

************************************************** **************
subject: "stuff to do with almond meal and flax meal"

I posted my cereal recipe on asd recently. It's a mixture of 2 cups
almond meal, 2 1/2 cups flax meal, 1 3/4 cups raw wheat germ, 2 cups oat
bran, 2 1/2 cups milk isolate protein powder, 1 cup soy lecithin, 1 cup
cinnamon (approximately 1/2 lb of first 5 ingredients, 1/4 lb of last 2
ingredients). Store tightly covered in fridge. As needed, mix 3/4 cup
dry cereal with boiling water to desired consistency; then stir in 1 TB
of heavy cream. 28g total carb (lots is fiber though), 23g protein and
350 kilocalories.

I got thinking about what else I do with these ingredients. I use
lecithin in protein powder shakes also; it's an emulsifier. Probably
could us it for making mayonnaise too, now that I think of it. But I am
mostly a lazy cook, so I don't make my own mayo.

I sometimes see recipes for wonderful pastries made with almond meal
and/or flax meal, sometimes I clip them and save them, but I rarely
actually get around to making them. I do occasionally spend 4 hours in
the kitchen, but when I do, I don't expect to have to cook for a week.
I'm not really motivated to make low-carb cheesecake unless it's a
matter of just mixing cream cheese with some vanilla and lemon juice and
sweetener - that's good enough for me.

So here's my actual fast, practical almond meal/flax meal recipes that I
make all the time:

First one is to make a slice of bread. I use a square pyrex about the
size of a regular bread slice with a lid. Melt 1 TB butter in the dish
in the microwave, then stir in 1 beaten egg, 2 TB flax meal, 2 TB almond
meal and 1/4 tsp baking powder; cover and microwave for 90 seconds.

I will often put the bread on a plate and put a slice of cheese on it;
then cook an egg in the same pyrex dish to top it with. The whole
sandwich has 9g total carb, 26g protein and 542 calories. A very fast
breakfast with minimal dishes involved.

Second one I do often is to make a muffin, which I nuke in a coffee cup.
This is particularly good when you're craving something specific like
a banana muffin or garlic bread cause the taste varies depending on what
extracts/sweeteners or herbs you use. Just melt 2 TB coconut oil in
coffee cup, beat in 1 egg, 1/4 cup flax meal and either some
extract/sweetener for a sweet muffin or spices/herbs for a savory
muffin. Nuke for 1 minute for a muffin with 17g total carb, 17g protein
and 612 calories.

************************************************** **************
subject: "REC: molten muffin"

This is another "baking in the microwave" recipe for lazy people.

2 TB coconut oil*
1 egg, beaten
2 TB cocoa
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 tsp baking powder
sweetener equivalent to 6 tsp sugar (I used Sweetzfree)
1 square of 85% Lindt chocolate

Place coconut oil in coffee cup and nuke for 60 seconds (until melted).
Stir in egg, cocoa, almond meal, baking powder and sweetener until well
mixed. Press chocolate square into middle of batter. Nuke for 90 seconds.

Makes 1 serving at 15 g total carb (7 g fiber, 8g net carb), 15 g
protein, 548 calories.

*I used expeller-pressed coconut oil as I find virgin coconut oil tastes
very coconut-y and didn't want that taste for this recipe.
************************************************** **************

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/