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A few weeks ago, I started a new life in a new city. If you’ve ever moved, you know how much of a pain it is: boxing up your belongings, setting up wifi, going to the store a million times, the list goes on and on. The kitchen is a particularly tricky situation to set up—there seems to be an accompanying necessary kitchen appliance for every meal possible, and I’ll say it: it’s too much.
Cooking is one of the more interesting aspects of growing up—for some, it’s a fun pastime to explore unique dishes from different cultures. For others, it’s a necessary evil that just needs to get done as quickly as possible in order to prevent a late-night McDonald’s run. The number of new cookware brands sprouting up can get overwhelming—I’m really supposed to know the difference between non-stick, stainless steel, and aluminium, or any of the other bajillion options?
I like quick, convenient, and repeatable meals that are at least slightly healthier than TV dinners. Thank God for Anyday, the new cookware brand backed by famed chef David Chang.
An Experienced Command Of Cookware
Launched in March of this year by Steph Chen of the Meyer Corporation family (manufacturers of brands like Farberware and KitchenAid), Anyday hopes to change your perception of the microwave being an unhealthy way to make food. After researching how people were using the appliance, Chen found that 85% of people don’t cook fresh food in the microwave, but oddly enough, plenty of professional chefs used the microwave in their kitchens all the time. One of those chefs is David Chang, whose restaurant chain Momofuku has turned into a food empire consisting of a book, a TV show, and packaged goods. A worthy addition, Change was brought on board for the development of Anyday.
The line consists of four borosilicate glass bowls with glass lids: The Large Deep Dish ($40), The Medium Deep Dish ($30), The Large Shallow Dish ($40), and The Medium Shallow Dish ($30). The borosilicate glass both looks presentable as well as prevents the dish from cracking when heated up. The dish-and-lid combination also creates the perfect environment for steam to stay inside and properly cook the whole meal.
Even better, Anyday sells these dishes in cost-effective and versatile sets. I'm a fan of the Complete Set ($150), a six-piece set of microwave cooking essentials that also includes the brand's newest launch: small dishes that are perfect for single-serve cooking and reheating leftovers ($35).
The borosilicate glass both looks presentable as well as prevents the dish from cracking when heated up. The dish-and-lid combination also creates the perfect environment for steam to stay inside and properly cook the whole meal.
Worried about the health impact of microwave cooking? For some reason, I always thought that the microwave transmitted some weird sci-fi chemicals into food, but thankfully Harvard Health states that, “The cooking method that best retains nutrients is one that cooks quickly, heats food for the shortest amount of time, and uses as little liquid as possible. Microwaving meets those criteria.”
To start off my Anyday journey, I tried a few simple and quick recipes from the company’s online cookbook.
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Everyone loves mashed potatoes, so having an easy recipe is a must for anyone living on their own or feeding a family. Instead of having to boil water and wait 20-30 minutes for the potatoes to soften, this recipe takes about 15 minutes from start to actually eating. With Anyday, all you have to do is peel the potatoes (or don’t), cut them into smaller pieces, heat them, and then add butter and cream and mash.
After following the recipe, my mashed potatoes were a little thick and undercooked. I think I just cut the chunks too big, so I’d definitely recommend cutting the potatoes into bite-sized pieces and maybe even adding a tablespoon of water to the bottom of the bowl, just to be sure that the pieces are easy to mash when they’re done cooking. All in all, this is definitely a recipe I’ll use in the future and it only requires a few ingredients. This is the perfect side dish that takes five minutes to prep, throw it in the microwave, and about 10 minutes later you have a side dish for four people!
Miso Butter Poached Onions
Growing up, my mom always made poached onions—I love the texture and taste of this topping. It’s also extremely versatile because they’re good for burgers or any dish you feel like throwing them on. The best part is that I only used onions and butter.
The onions came out cooked perfectly. And that’s all there is to it. If you have miso handy in your kitchen, that would make this dish even better. I also filled the dish to the top and had no problems with the pieces getting cooked thoroughly. It’s incredibly simple to cut an onion into eighths, throw them into the Anyday, and have several sides you can save for the week.
Corn on the Cob
Corn is a great vegetable because of how cheap it is and you essentially buy it in its natural state, so I’m assuming the nutritional value is pretty decent. This recipe is almost too easy: simply break the corn in half and throw it in the microwave with the correct time. You can even cook up to three ears at a time.
After cooking, I lathered the corn with butter to make a crisp and sweet side. Like a lot of these recipes from Anyday, you can spend just a few minutes prepping and then let it cook in the microwave while doing other kitchen tasks.
The Perfect Present
As you can see, a lot of these recipes are extremely simple and make for efficient cooking. I started off with simple 2-to-3-ingredient dishes, but I can’t wait to try my hand at more complex meals like sloppy Joes or stuffed spaghetti squash. There’s even a full chicken and rice meal that only takes 21 minutes and 10 ingredients to make. And the garlic butter lobster tail post on Instagram definitely stopped me in my tracks. Lobster in the microwave? Dreams do come true.
Credit: @anyday
Anyday is perfect for me as a newbie living on my own, but I could also see it being useful to a wide range of people. If you’re a parent who is busy with a million other things, Anyday will save you a lot of time and give you the ability to conveniently provide healthier meals for your family. If you’re living on your own, these dishes are a secret weapon to make a lot of food all at once for the entire week.
In addition to trying out more recipes from Anyday, I’m now taking down a list of all the people who I can send this to for Christmas— this is just too good of a product to keep to myself. If you get a whole set or just one dish, Anyday is sure to make your kitchen life stress free and actually… enjoyable.
5 More Reasons To Love Anyday:
- Recipes: Anyday did the heavy lifting to bring you a ton of different recipes that are easy to follow and use accessible and relatively inexpensive ingredients -- their website has over 200 recipes to help you get creative in the kitchen.
- Versatility: While Anyday gives all the steps and ingredients needed, you can certainly do more or less. I didn’t follow the recipes perfectly and my food came out perfectly.
- Care: In addition to (obviously) being microwave-safe and oven-safe, Anyday is dishwasher-safe, too. Cleaning up after a meal just got a whole lot better.
- Simplify your life and clutter: In my opinion, Anyday could really take the place of a lot of appliances (rice cooker, popcorn maker, etc.), so if you’re in a small space these dishes are a great option to clear up your kitchen cabinets. The dishes are also beautiful enough to place on your dinner table, so there's no need for extra plating or presentation.
- Warranty: If you use Tupperware or other plastic containers, you know that heat can morph the shape and ruin them. Anyday is top quality. I don’t foresee anything breaking, but if it does, Anyday offers a two-year limited warranty.
