Recipe ideas without a proper cooker?

Microwaves are ideal for cooking vegetables or boiling potatoes, so there is no excuse for a diet of sausage and chips.
Considering your location, might I suggest black pudding or tripe as an accompaniment. They sell them on the market next to Reidy’s.

Is there any chance of picking up a crockpot/slow cooker? They’re pretty cheap, at least here in the states… and your choice of meals will increase dramatically.

Have you ever thought about getting a stacked steamer? They really are not pricy, and you can steam many veggies in there, as well as chicken (and fish i think), and rice as well. Other than that bit of info, i wouldn’t know how to cook things with only a microwave and grill thingie either! (other than microwaved potatoes…).
If you’re not already doing this (i don’t know, you didn’t mention veggies in your question, unless it was obvious that you’re already eating them :) ), you can buy frozen veggies (like sweetcorn and peas and things) and defrost them using boiling water, and then they’re ready to eat. Or cook whole corn (corn on the cob i think you call it?) in the microwave.
I have a chocolate cake thingy recipes for the microwave if you want that (because you know, some people need some dessert now and again), it’s really yummy.

oh also I have this plastic microwave pasta cooker that I got from QVC and you can cook a whole box of pasta, the top is a strainer, and it’s got a steamer rack that fits inside for steaming veggies, fish, etc.

I used to have a George Foreman grill. I used it so much, it gave up living. I made everything on there: chicken, steaks, bacon, pork chops… Okay, maybe not everything. No vegetables (although I suppose you could do grilled asparagus) or soups. But, you can use a microwave for those.

You can do paninis on the grill. Chicken and grilled zuccini is a combo I love. Buy roasted peppers in a jar (I think I like the Dellalo brand yellow and red peppers) and add to meat or chicken, cheese if you want and yummy italian bread. Or, a Cuban sandwich with ham, pork, cheese, mustard, pickle and grill.

The pasta cooker someone mentioned sound like a good idea, you can not buy anything special though and just cook it in a bowl, fresh pasta cooks very fast and so does angel hair if you have to buy dry pasta.

Grill hamburgers.

Grill Portobello mushrooms.

Why not buy ysome frozen veggies and microwave them, some have combinations with rice or pasta, and you can add precooked shrimp, or any meat you want.

I have a full kitchen, but I do most of my baking and broiling in my toaster oven, is ther an option to buy one? I buy one that can fit a 9” square baking dish, I make lasagna, chicken, cakes, everything. I don’t have to heat a large oven, and it does not heat up the kicthen as much. Just a suggestion.

@mrentropy: Oh my goodness… I never thought of grilles asparagus on the George Foreman! I’m getting asparagus on the way home! lol

@Rewgreen it’s rather creepy that you know where I live! And I wouldn’t eat those things if you paid me =P

Everyone else, Yeah I kinda assumed it went without saying that I eat veg, pretty much anything that can be done with the microwave I do. I had a slow cooker once but never actually used it, I am not really one for planning meals in advance. I was more thinking of anything unusual that can be made. I make stuff like spaghetti bolognaise (substituting mince for cut up sausages) so I guess I will just carry on with what I already do. @JLeslie I already do all kinda of toastie/pitta/pannini type things on the grill =) so that’s covered. I was just looking for something that was fun to make, I guess that’s the main problem, it’s really not fun cooking on the George Forman or in the microwave

@Chrissi85 I know your question is about cooked foods, but what about some cold recipe ideas for a variety? Salads? I make a mixed greens with sliced apple apple and walnut with Paul Newman’s rasberry walnut dressing, really nice in the summer.

Can you buy a hot plate, so you can boil and saute? I think you can get them as cheap as $20 in the states. I cook on top of the stove most of the time. I think I could make 80% of what I cook with one.

@poofandmook My husband and I prefer broiling asparagus to grilling on an inside grill. Not counting grilling outside on the real thing, which is the ideal. I put some olive oil and salt and broil for several minutes, flip them around, and broil some more.

you can make dessert by grilling pineapple and store bought pound cake and serve with either a dollop of whipped heavy cream or a little vanilla ice cream

Grilled Cesar Salad… take hearts of romaine, cut in half drizzle with olive oil, lemon salt and pepper
grill some good bread w/ evoo and rub with garlic break up over the lettuce and shave some good parmesean over top

@JLeslie (drizzle a touch of balsamic while you’re at it for a flavor EXPLOSION)
:-)

@christine215 I like the cake idea! We often grill pineapple for gammon. The salad ideas are nice, but I am allergic to a lot of salad ingredients, so I don’t really bother most the time

@Christine, I assume you mean the asparagus? I’m going to guess you are Italian.

@JLeslie yup, Italian… and yes I do mean the asparagus

I second @JLeslie ‘s idea of investing in a toaster/oven. I checked, and Argos carries them. I use it for not only toast, but open-faced sandwiches, baking biscuits…pretty much anything you can do in an oven, just on a single-serve scale.

@christine215 LOL. No one makes vegetables like Italians. Yum!

You can do a delicious Japanese meal.

Tempura which you can make in your deep-fat fryer.

Yakitori skewers in the Foreman grill.

Teriyaki and noodles in the microwave.

@Chrissi85 Nothing creepy about it, where else in the world would sausage and chips be considered a meal?

I do nearly all my cooking in a microwave, including my Thanksgiving turkey. I haven’t found any recipe that can’t be done in a microwave.

@YARNLADY Scrambled eggs. My father-in-law always does them in a microwave and they’re just nowhere near as good as the real thing.

Oh, and once I tried reheating tinned salad potatoes in the microwave (not actually in the tin – I’m not that daft). I ended up with an oven lined with mashed potato.

If you can boil water…pasta, pasta, pasta! lol

Here’s a good recipe for summer, everyone loves it!

Boil about 6 cups of small shell macaroni

Drain and cool.

Mix in to pasta….

One large can white Albacore Tuna

1 cup diced sharp cheddar cheese

⅓ cup minced red onion

1 jar of diced sweet pickles

Mix well and chill for 1–2 hours.

Enjoy!

@YARNLADY: How on Earth do you cook a whole turkey in the microwave?

I have a GE 2 cu ft microwave, with a 16” rotating glass plate on the bottom. I put it in a Corning roasting dish, and followed the recipe

Oops…forgot to mention to mix the pasta and ingredients WITH lite mayo to taste! lol

@downtide that’s a fantastic idea! Thankyou. The salad ideas are all lovely, but I am allergic to a lot of salad ingredients so I don’t usually bother. @Coloma I tend to find pasta goes a bit smushy in the microwave, but spaghetti cooks ok, so maybe I just need to change my technique. @YARNLADY turkey from the microwave?? really? are you sure you don’t mean a microwave oven? Very different thing I think. To everyone else, thankyou very much for all the ideas. I am getting a proper cooker soon, so I just wanted some interesting things to make for me and the fella until then.

Oh and @Rewgreen you don’t have to be Northern to appreciate deep fried goodness =P

@Chrissi85

Can you boil water on your grill thingy?

@Chrissi85 yes, I mean a microwave oven – what did you think microwave meant?

@coloma not really no, it’s sloped to let the fat run off and the temperature isn’t really controllable. I’d have to stand there holding a pan at an angle for ages. I usually just boil the kettle, pour it onto the pasta and nuke it. @YARNLADY mines just a microwave, not a microwave oven. If I tried to cook a turkey in it, it would probably come out slimy and give us all food poisoning

I have no idea what a microwave is that is not an oven. Here is a picture of mine. It sits on the counter, opens in the front, and has the buttons to the right side of the door.

Can you show me a picture of what you mean?

@YARNLADY Probably something like this. My sister has one.

@Pied_Pfeffer That looks a lot like mine, except mine isn’t a combo convection/microwave oven – it’s just a plain microwave oven.

Hum I have no idea then, I just know that you can’t use ours to cook meat, only to defrost it

@Chrissi85 I wonder if you just think you can’t because you haven’t tried? Now don’t get me wrong, there might be microwave’s that only defrost, but I’ve never seen one. Could you give me the brand and model of the one you have?

I have also done all kinds of meat in the microwave, just to try it when we first had one. I really liked how ham came out if you baste it with some kind of sauce. As you like pineapple that might work with, say, orange juice?

I really don’t know, it’s always generally been a given.. you don’t fully cook meat in the microwave. I know they do these special things for making crispy microwave bacon sooooo…

@Chrissi85: You CAN cook meat in your microwave, but most people don’t because it doesn’t come out as nicely. Also, the meat tends to cook very unevenly. Parts will be overcooked and others will be raw. It can be done, it just takes more effort and sometimes special pans/wrappings, etc.

@YARNLADY I never would have guessed you can microwave a turkey.

@all A microwave is a microwave oven. There are advantium ovens, I have one, that combines microwave with heat from a light, but that is a totally different thing.

They also have the grilling microwave ovens now.

I guess I just wouldn’t risk it. It doesn’t seem very safe, and I prefer my meat all crispy and cooked through without having to buy special equipment hehe

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