Cooking Tip

Many of my favorite dishes call for sauteed onions: red beans and rice, stews, pilaf, etc. But sauteing onions in the pan can be kind of a pain: waiting for the oil to heat up, throwing it out when you overheat it and it starts smoking, trying again, hovering over the pan and determining the best time to add the onions, stirring, stirring, and cleaning the pan when done.

But a few months ago I tried something that was so easy it's doubled the chances I'll make a dish calling for sauteed onions. Here's my new method:

Chop an onion.

Toss with olive oil in a bowl.

Microwave on high for 3 minutes.

Done.

This method, combined with my recent purchase of a rice cooker, has made a big difference in how often I cook and how well I eat.