I've been cooking for a long, long, long, long time. My mom got a job when I was 13 and guess who was appointed to feed a ravening pack of males (dad and six brothers)? You know who. Anyway, maybe cooking just seems easy to me because I've been at it for such a long time, but I do think we can cook good things without too much fuss. I use my microwave for a lot of things that you might not think should be microwaved but, believe me, I don't turn out bad food. Trust me.

Spuds

If you like baked potatoes, they're the easiest thing in the world to make in a microwave. A large potato takes about five minutes to cook. Many people don't like the fact that the skin doesn't get crispy. If you're one of them, just preheat your oven while the potato's in the microwave, then toss it into the regular oven for 10 minutes. Or, if you have a toaster oven, put in there for a few minutes. The skin will crisp up and you won't be able to tell the difference between your quick-fix baked potato and one that was in the oven for an hour-plus.

To make a whole meal of your potato, put some frozen broccoli in a dish and pop it into the microwave when you put the potato in. Allow a few extra minutes to cook both of them. Slit the potato, spoon the broccoli into it, add some cheddar cheese and put it back in the microwave just long enough to melt the cheese. GOOD.

Sweet potatoes cook even more quickly than white ones. When you take a sweet potato out of the microwave, just hold it with a potholder while you cut it in half and scoop out the insides.

Don't waste your money on those "microwave-ready" potatoes and sweet potatoes that you see in the supermarket. Every potato is "microwave-ready" and you don't want to nuke potatoes in the plastic wrap that the supermarkets put on them. Plastic leeches chemicals into the food when it's heated.

Where's the Beef?

Hamburger or any other meat that contains a fair amount of fat will cook like a dream in the microwave. I buy ground beef when it's on sale, which at my favorite supermarket means buying at least three pounds to get the best price. I immediately form it into patties and put each one in a sandwich bag, then toss them into the freezer. Whenever I feel like having a hamburger, I take a frozen patty out of its bag, put it on a plate, cover it with a microwave cover and zap it for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Voila. No, it's not grilled or charbroiled, but it is tasty. Sometimes I add a little Worcestershire sauce or steak sauce. I also freeze hamburger buns, which is especially crucial in hot or humid weather, since bread will get moldy very quickly in those conditions. A few seconds in the microwave will thaw a bun, and it's fresh AND warm.

Since the ground beef is already separated, if I want to make spaghetti or chili, I just use as many patties as I need. I figure about four patties to a pound, so if I make either of these dishes, I just toss four patties into a microwavable bowl, nuke 'em till they start to brown, break them up with a fork and continue cooking until the meat is browned. Then I drain the grease and add some seasonings.

For spaghetti, I put the sauce in the same bowl and return it to the microwave for about 20 minutes, while I cook the pasta on the old-fashioned gas stove. Both the sauce and the pasta are done at the same time and it took a total of 25 minutes.

For chili, I add a can of tomato sauce, a can of kidney beans, a can of diced or sliced tomatoes, and seasonings - a tablespoon of garlic, a medium onion and a tablespoon of chili powder. If I don't have fresh onion or garlic, I use the powdered varieties. Then I return the bowl to the microwave for 20 or 30 minutes, depending upon how well the seasonings have cooked in.

I also make stuffed peppers in the microwave and they are E-Z. I like to use the ground beef when it's fresh, since it's tough to defrost it in the microwave without it cooking somewhat. I boil some water for rice according to the package directions, stir in the rice and let it set. While it's absorbing the water, I scrub and seed the green peppers and cut them in half. I put them in a Pyrex baking dish, but you could use any microwaveable dish that's large enough for your peppers. Then I mix the rice with the ground beef, stuff the peppers, and cover them with a can of tomato sauce, I put a microwave cover over the baking dish and zap them for about 20 minutes.

Leftovers

When I make those ground-beef dishes I end up with a large amount of food, which I like because I don't have to cook as often, I freeze the leftovers in inidividual Pyrex bowls with lids. They can go right into the microwave for reheating.

And More Spuds!

Sometimes I make mashed potatoes, which are very easy. Just peel a couple of potatoes, cut them into quarters or even smaller pieces--the smaller the pieces, the faster they cook-- and boil them until they're soft. Drain off the water, add a tablespoon of butter and a couple of tablespoons of milk and mash them. If you don't have a potato masher, just cook the potatoes until they're very, very soft and you'll be able to use a fork to mash them. They'll be slightly lumpy but they'll taste great. Or, you could just use instant potatoes or frozen ones. Ore Ida makes great frozen mashed potatoes. You just add milk and microwave them.

A dish that I sorta made up and really enjoy is pizza fries. I sometimes cut up fresh potatoes, but often use frozen french fries. I put a little olive oil or vegetable oil on the little baking sheet from my toaster oven, cook the fries in it, drain off the oil and add pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese. If I have pepperoni or other toppings, like green peppers and black olives, I'll put them on it, too. Then I put it back in the toaster oven until the cheese is lightly browned. This dish takes about 20 minutes and it's good for a couple of meals. If you don't have a toaster oven, you can do it in the regular oven. If you preheat the oven while you're getting the fries ready, it won't take any longer than using a toaster oven.

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