Kitchen Shortcuts: Cooking with the Microwave & George Foreman Grill

I stocked up on potatoes a few weeks ago (they were on sale for 5 lb for $0.99!) and have roasted/baked, boiled, mashed, and pan-fried my way through 10 lb of them. Today I was craving hashbrowns and because I'm lazy to try something different, I decided to make them in the microwave. I've only microwaved potatoes on two prior occasions: whole and as chips. Unfortunately both were failures, so I was leery to give it another go. ...But third time's a charm -- these hashbrowns taste great! I "fried" an egg on my George Foreman grill to go with them and dinner was ready a whole six minutes later.

I started by washing/scrubbing two potatoes and slicing them into cubes.

I placed the potato cubes in a glass dish and microwaved them for six minutes.

While they were microwaving, I propped up the front two legs of my George Foreman grill with its overturned drip tray (to create a flat surface), plugged it in, and broke an egg on it. I usually hold the grill lid partway down for a minute or two to help the top of the egg to cook, but don't set it all the way down as I like my eggs to be sunny side up and a little runny. Eggs cook quickly on the George Foreman so I've learned to keep a close eye on things to avoid well-done yolks!

When the microwaved beeped, I tossed the fried egg on top of the hashbrowns, added some ketchup and ranch dressing (my favourite potato topping) and sat down to my (very lazy) dinner. It felt like a diner meal to me -- you know, red vinyl seats, checkered floor style -- just basic, satisfying food.

I think microwaving is a great way to cook potatoes. It dries them on the outside, producing a similar texture to roasting or baking, without the time, electricity consumption, oil, and hassle! I also frequently use my George Foreman grill to fry eggs, as it is super quick, involves no clean up, and requires no oil.

What cooking shortcuts do you take?