Cook Dinner in Your Coffeemaker

Dinner made in a coffeemaker? Why would anyone ever want to do that? If you are a student in a dorm, a soldier deployed in the field, or stuck in a hotel room for some reason, a drip coffeemaker might be the only appliance available for food preparation, And it can be done. NPR outlines three basic techniques:

1.   Steam: The basket at the top is a great place to steam vegetables. You can throw in broccoli, cauliflower or any vegetable that cooks in about the same time as those.
 2.   Poach: The carafe at the bottom serves as a simple vessel for poaching fish and chicken. You can also use it to hard-boil eggs or make couscous and oatmeal.
 3.   Grill: This technique is a bit more advanced — and time-consuming. But if you're really itching for a grilled cheese sandwich or a cinnamon bun in a motel room, the coffee maker's burner can serve as a miniature grill.

Jody Anderson developed coffeemaker recipes for her nephew and other soldiers in Afghanistan, and posts them on Facebook. NPR's The Salt tried out a dinner of poached salmon with steamed broccoli and couscous. See how that turned out, and you might want to send some of the recipes to someone you know who could use them. -via Uproxx

(Image credit: Morgan Walker/NPR)