How to: Microwave Poached Egg

Cooking for one. It happens in dorm rooms, apartments with old appliances, or houses stuffed with so many roommates, you have to play tetris with all the items in your fridge to find a space for your milk jug.  Still, I see none of those conditions as an excuse for Ramen noodle and mac & cheese dinners every night. No one deserves that boring dining experience. My escape from boxed meals is the incredible, edible egg. You can make SO many inexpensive, quick, and tasty dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with this thing! Many are familiar with the basic scrambling, frying, and hard boiling, but my cooking method of choice is neither of these. It's poaching.

Poaching eggs is done in a pot of simmering water with a splash of vinegar. It is a delicate process because the egg will easily fall apart and leave you with something resembling extremely watered-down egg drop soup if something goes wrong. While it's definitely worth the time to learn how to correctly poach an egg, there is a very convenient shortcut for those days when you're starving and need to eat NOW. The shortcut is.....the microwave! All you need is 5 minutes, a microwave safe glass, cooking spray, an egg, and you've got yourself the makings of a healthy meal.

To start, spray the inside of a microwave safe glass, mug, bowl, etc with cooking spray. Fill the inside of your cup with 2 tsp of water, barely enough to coat the bottom of the glass. Crack your egg into the glass and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.

 

Time to cook! Put the glass in the microwave and cook for 30 seconds for soft yolk or 1 minute for hard yolk. Remove from microwave. If there is water left over in the bottom of the glass, tip your glass to drain the water.

Use a spoon to gently remove your poached egg from the glass.

For breakfast, serve the egg with toast. For lunch or dinner, serve on top of salad greens topped with your favorite dressing.