[JerryM]

I use a microwave to 'cook' things that need to be cooked a bit before they can be used in other dishes.
 
I make a nice Sicilian calzone that includes sliced onions and sliced bell peppers. If these are cooked somewhat first, the onions are sweet and the bell peppers won't cause one to burp. The true 'Dish' is made entirely by scratch, and takes all day. Using a microwave to lend a hand on some of the ingredients? Yeah, it's appropriate to me. 

Other than that, a microwave is for cooking light bulbs, right? 

Have fun,
Jerry

[ooheadsoo]

Microwaves are also excellent for steaming veggies.  For example, to hold in all the potato-iness of a tater in a potato salad, instead of boiling the potatoes, you can steam them.  Even better, use a steam cooker.  Even better, use a microwave!  Just slice the potatoes up, wrap them in a wet paper towel, use something to keep the steam trapped around the potatoes, and nuke away for a few minutes.  It takes potato salad from being a test of your patience (for a friggin salad) to a more manageable feat.

[turkey]

The microwave works very well for a lot of Indian dishes.

I have a hard time buying that concept. All of my Indian business associates (and I have lots of them) all claim that to make authentic Indian cuisine that you have to get the spices really going, in hot oil, long enough that you can barely breathe. Don't see how that will happen in a nuker.

Pat

I don't think all Indian cuisine uses that technique with the oil.

I also found this:

http://www.indianfoodforever.com/microwave-cooking/index.html

[turkey]

Like I said, it warms my water.

A healthy diet with lot's of fruit and raw veggies doesn't require cooking.

Did you see this John ?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=raw-veggies-are-healthier

I prefer mine cooked...

They have also found that cooking vegetables can make some of the nutrients more available. (And they recommended microwaving for this, since you lose fewer nutrients than with slower methods.)

In addition, some nutrients are not soluble in water. You need some fat in there to dissolve them and make them available. That's why it isn't a good idea to use fat-free salad dressing. You're better off with a bit of fat, perhaps olive or canola oil.

[Zheeeem]

Microwave oven works by exciting the water molecules  -- I believe it resonates with rotation energy of the HO bond.  It cooks by heating the water in any food.  It's a tool to be used just like infrared heating.  You just have to use it appropriately.

Actually, it's the rotational frequency of the water molecule, not just the OH bond.

[Zheeeem]

Microwave ovens are ideal for cooking those little bags of popcorn.  And for heating up a cup of water.  After that, well, the uses have limits.

Part of the problem with a microwave is simply the way it works.  It is mainly effective at the rotational frequency of a water molecule, but far less or even completely inefficient elsewhere.  So you need a fairly uniform water content, or cooking can become quite uneven.  I will use a microwave to preheat a baked potato, or to cook broccoli or asparagus, if I am short on time.  I will also use it to heat pesto (which I keep in the freezer) with olive oil, or to melt butter.  Alas, these are minor conveniences.

My spousal unit, who is a barbarian by nature, reheats day-old coffee in the microwave.  This would be a good reason to ban microwaves altogether.

[BobM]

I've found that I use the microwave about 3 times a week to heat up a plate of leftovers for dinner when I get home. You just can't put any kind of bread in them at all (i.e. no pizza) and you have to be careful of overheating/overcooking meats that way. That gets tough and rubbery very quickly.

[art]

I don't think all Indian cuisine uses that technique with the oil.

I also found this:

http://www.indianfoodforever.com/microwave-cooking/index.html

I guess that you didn't actually take the time to read any of those recipes. If you had.................

(Hint: they all call for heating most of the ingredients in a hot, oily pan.)

Pat

[turkey]

I don't think all Indian cuisine uses that technique with the oil.

I also found this:

http://www.indianfoodforever.com/microwave-cooking/index.html

I guess that you didn't actually take the time to read any of those recipes. If you had.................

(Hint: they all call for heating most of the ingredients in a hot, oily pan.)

Pat

You're right. I just saw they were microwave recipes and posted the URL.

I stand by my original statement that "I don't think all Indian cuisine uses that technique with the oil."

Here's an example from that same site.

http://www.indianfoodforever.com/mughlai/shami-kabab.html

I have 3 Indian cookbooks at home and they all talk about heating the spices in oil as being common to some of the cuisines in India. But I have also seen a number of recipes that did not call for that, or indeed any frying at all.

[art]

I don't doubt that there are any. Just the basic technique for >98% of it needs hot oil. No way that you can get the same effect in a nuker. Unless, of course, that you do that before you nuke it. Which then brings to mind the question "Now that I have one pan, all oily and dirty, that will need to be washed, what is the incentive for moving it to yet another utensil to nuke it?"

Speaking of hot oil...........mustard oil is the only one that needs to be hot enough to smoke for proper use.

Pat

[turkey]

I don't doubt that there are any. Just the basic technique for >98% of it needs hot oil. No way that you can get the same effect in a nuker. Unless, of course, that you do that before

I got the impression that it's used mostly in the north. So it may be that 98% of the Indian food you get in the US needs that technique, but not 98% of the food in India.

If I remember, tonight I'll check my cookbooks and see if I can get a better idea of where and how much it's used.