As much as we'd all love to spend five hours slow cooking an absolute feast every evening, we have busy lives and therefore very little time. Thankfully, there's one little piece of equipment in our kitchens that helps us out when we're feeling particularly lazy: the humble microwave.
But while many might disregard it as nothing more than a facilitator for a good old ready meal, there's actually a ton of stuff you can make in there that doesn't includeSainsbury's best carbonara (a personal favourite). And as well as being ready in just minutes, microwave meals also equal minimal mess. Which is always going to be a winner where I'm concerned.
So why not give some of these feasts a whirl:
This clever recipe uses torn bread as the base for the quiche, and cooks up the cheesy, eggy filling in a matter of minutes. GENIUS.
What you need:
The ultimate comfort food, this is best served on a sofa with a side order of Netflix. So why not cut the faffing time required for a hob-made mac and cheese, and bung it in the microwave instead.
What you need:
Risotto is notorious for giving you an achey arm, as you've got to stand there stirring it for about five years to make sure the rice cooks without sticking to the pan. But those dark days are gone, my friends, because you can now whack it in the microwave and be on your merry way.
What you need:
Mexican night made easy; all you've got to do is whack your chopped peppers, onions and chicken in the microwave with seasoning, and the filling for your wrap will be ready to go ASAP.
What you need:
What's better than a molten chocolate pudding? A molten chocolate pudding that takes literally minutes to put together. And if you're feeling bad about the intake of calories this speedy meal is going to give you, you can run up and down the stairs a couple of times while you're waiting for it to cook.
What you need:
Feel bad about your furious snacking habits? Bung some sweet potato in the microwave and you've got guilt-free, veggie crisps all day long.
What you need:
When you're making a fry up, or pancakes, or anything else requiring crispy bacon, the chances are you'll be juggling about 15 things at once. But if you know how to make deliciously crispy bacon in the microwave, you can leave that be and concentrating on the rest of the meal. This is a REVELATION.
What you need:
Who needs mashed potatoes when you could make SMASHED potatoes? They take about half the time and are waaaaay less bother. Which is ideal, really. God bless the microwave.
What you need:
For those of you not native to either Mexico or Wahaca, this is a dish involving tortilla chips which are usually fried. But not in this recipe, oh no. In this one they're microwaved, and it's super simple (and tasty, obvs).
What you need:
Fish is healthy, right? And who knew microwaved food could be healthy. This one's a win-win in both the laziness and the nutrition stakes.
What you need:
Whoever said gourmet cooking couldn't be easy?
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