Student Chow.

[erufiku]

Hiya, I remember reading that quite a few HF members were working as cooks, and I'm guessing that there are tons of college students as well. So, now that the academic year has started I find myself with no time to cook 'a proper meal'. At the same time I refuse to eat the refuse from the food courts. So, gimme some ideas for cooking an inexpensive, nutritious meal in under 45 minutes.

My picks:
-Japanese curry
-Thai curry (love the red one w/Chinese eggplant)
-Pasta carbonara
-Szechuan seafood stir-fry
-Mince beef & celery stir fry
-Pizza (Napoli-style)
-Risotto w/carmelized onions & vinegar (more than 45min)
-Nonna-style Lasagne (way more than 45min)
-Bliny (Russian crepes)
-Salmon steak in honey-dijon marinate
-Fried chicken in spicy maple glaze (more than 45min)

PS: mac+cheese, cup ramen, etc. don't count as food!

[mdl]

Chicken parmigiana: Chicken breast, apply a rub to it if you please. Pour Pasta sauce over it. Grate Parmesan cheese on. Cook for approx; 35-45mins @ 375 degree F. Cook pasta 10-15 mins before the chicken is done.

[bjelder]

Broccoli-Cheddar soup is my favorite :-)

[erufiku]

Broccoli-Cheddar soup is my favorite :-)

How do you make it? I've never cooked soup in my life...

[bjelder]

Broccoli-Cheddar soup is my favorite :-)

How do you make it? I've never cooked soup in my life...

Its crazy easy the way I do it, lol-

Mix this


With some of this


Put onto this


Mix in this:


Let it simmer on low for like 15 minutes, let all the broccoli cook.

Yum :-)

[ryno]

Ramen and BBQ sauce\thread

[Tuscani]

Mac & cheese w/ BBQ Sauce /thread

[Tati]

Im a big fan of anything frozen. Esp veggies.

Ill make some pasta and sauce, mix in veggies.

Veggies, meat, rice = stir fry.

[modisess]

Chinese style steamed fish... easy peasy..

All you need is fish fillet, foil, light soy sauce, sugar, salt, fresh ginger and also some coriander(parsley)..

[oolatec]

I was totally with you until I read "inexpensive"...

[erufiku]

I was totally with you until I read "inexpensive"...

How do you mean? I don't think I've ever cooked anything that would cost more than $5/serving... cheaper than eating at McDonalds. I don't think that a delicious, healthy meal has to be expensive, which is why I never jumped on the whole organic food bandwagon. True, some ingredients can get expensive: prosciutto, good cheese, good quality spices, gourmet olive oil, specialty vinegars, etc. But then again, a little good stuff goes a long way in terms of flavour.

Modisses: you got me intrigued, could you elaborate on the steamed fish?

Tati: might just switch to frozen veggies once winter comes around... Fresh veggies are really expensive in Montreal from December-April.

[oolatec]

Well I'm a chef for a living... I don't know the meaning of inexpensive... not these days. lol

I'm talking steaks from Meats by Linz, Stock Yards, Allen Brothers etc... Tuna from Fortune Fish... and on and on. lol

On a budget though... if you saved up and stocked up on some good essentials (like vinegars/oils... stuff that lasts long) like you mentioned, you really could turn ordinary, every day ingredients into something very tasty...

Heirloom tomato/mozzarella salad with xtra virgin olive oil/balsamic vinegar, fresh cracked black pepper and some arugula would be a definite treat!

I threw this together one night with some leftovers. Some tomatoes from my garden, mozz, basil, balsamic vin/evo, pepper... Edited September 26, 2008 by oolatec

[modisess]

Modisses: you got me intrigued, could you elaborate on the steamed fish?

Okay, so you only do this with lean fish(white meat). You can choose to leave the skin on or not, it's your preference.. So here's what you need to do..

1. Tear up a piece of foil, twice or thrice as big as the fish fillet, if you don't have enough foil (which I doubt it ) then cut up the fish into smaller pieces, smallest being 3in x 3in, so you den't end up eating little flakes of fish.

2. Lay your foil flat on a table, shiny side up! place the fish on one half of the foil, season with salt and pepper and add a TINY bit of sugar.

3. Now get some ginger root, peel and slice into tiny sticks or small cubes or whatever. Coriander leaves, just roughly chop them. Now sprinkle both of those on top of the fish, not too much though.

4. Now take the other half of the foil and fold it over the fish, you should have a rectangular shape now. Seal the two ends of the foil (just by folding and overlapping each fold to seal them). But do not seal the longer end, leave it open.

5. Now add some light soy sauce (not the dark one) through the open end and then seal that end. Now check if there are leaks around the foil. To cook it, you can either place the foil pouch on a steamer pot or do it like me and just place the pouch on a grill or bbq, give it 15 to cook.

Yeah I know through what i wrote here it looks like there's A LOT to do, but trust me when you are actually doing it, you'll find out that it's actually very easy and fast. Serve with some rice..

And yes.. I'm in culinary.. although still a student..

[erufiku]

Modisses: you got me intrigued, could you elaborate on the steamed fish?

Okay, so you only do this with lean fish(white meat). You can choose to leave the skin on or not, it's your preference.. So here's what you need to do..

And yes.. I'm in culinary.. although still a student..

OK one more question. Is there any particular reason as to why you add each ingredient separately? I mean, it seems easier to just mix everything with the soy sauce in a small bowl and then drizzle/brush it onto the fish.

[Johnny_D]

Student Diet =


&


JD

[modisess]

OK one more question. Is there any particular reason as to why you add each ingredient separately? I mean, it seems easier to just mix everything with the soy sauce in a small bowl and then drizzle/brush it onto the fish.

no particular reason, but i just do it like that... also, it might be pretty hard to keep the wet stuff in foil unless you fold the foil 1st then just dump the mixture through the open end. You'll have to slush it abit so that the whole mixture gets on the fish. It'll work.

[erufiku]

Student Diet =


&


JD

It's funny, I never believed the mac&cheese/cup ramen + beer stereotype but quite a few of my friends live on that stuff. Bleh.
Not to say that I don't enjoy the occasional kimchi ramen at 2am. Drunk, of course :]

[Kathrynx]

This is good, and lasts a long time. Tuppware is your best friend. I am a home chef for my husband.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

In a big stock pot add...

1 Tsp. oil (heat it up then add..)
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves or some garlic salt

Saute that for 2 minutes
Stir in...
2 cups chopped, pre-cooked chicken (you can boil it the night before)
1 cup frozen corn (I put a whole bag, love my corn)
1/4 cup dry wine
1 or 2 seeded and chopped jalapenos (don't need this for a good soup, but I like spicy)
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. worcester sauce
1/2 tsp. chili powder
3 cans of chicken broth (or what is saved from boiling chicken)
1 can diced tomatoes (or a whole tomato)

Bring it all to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Tortilla chips and cheese in the bowl covered with your soup!

Its much better in a crock pot cooking all night, and even better the next day because the jalapenos will make the soup hotter!

[AKammenzind]

Falafel sandwich. Most definitely.

Fried rice, gyros, salads, kebabs (lots of potential there), a reuben is always fast and good... tabbouleh is great for breakfast or lunch... hummus/baba ganoush are also good to make just to have around for snacks or to accompany a sandwich.

Everything above takes well under 45 minutes, requires nothing but a stovetop/coil burner, is cheap if you do it right, and pretty darn nutritious to boot.

[liquidglass]

I know you don't want ramen or mac and cheese but when you're low on cash here are a few good ideas.



Ramen (u just the pasta pretty much) cooked with shrimp or chicken, your choice, then drain it. And put in your desired spices, ramen packet optional, then some soy sauce, let it sit for a min or two and you have a great 5-8 min meal.


Mac n cheese, just throw brocolli spears into it. (lol I just thought of a picture I need to photoshop of a piece of brocolli as a spear)


Spam, fry it then put it into a sandwich and continue to cook it like a grilled cheese (gorge foreman works too)


Chopped chicken (bite size) dip it in a hot sauce mix (hot sauce, butter, brown mustard: all to taste) (and lemon juice and red pepper flakes optional) then bread them, bake them for 12 min on 375, after 7 min flip them. Awesome finger food meal.


Just ideas for relatively cheap (and southern lol) food

[natgnat]

What's real fun is trying to be both cheap and vegetarian at the same time!

As far as nutrition... beans are cheap. Lentils... very cheap protiens right there if you're not a complete carnivore. Haha. One night a week with one of those might save you a pretty penny.

[Cerritus]

goulash start boiling penne noodles, cook ground beef, add tomato sauce, drain noodles and mix it all together. add Parmesan, salt, pepper, etc to taste, eat in a big bowl and save the rest

[gaia.plateau]

Real students eat out of dumpsters.

[Heelie]

The best college food involves filling a big soup pot with beef, tomato, water, and spices. Let this cauldron simmer nonstop and when it becomes depleted add more to it. Booyah, Chile, Goulash? Who knows. It sort of morphs between different soups depending on what you add to it. The key rules are to never stop cooking on low heat, never finish the pot, never tell any of your guests what it is. Add so much heat to it that you can't taste anything else. It might kill you but it worked for a friend of mine.

[leadpipecinch21]

generic asian style chicken...

ingredients:
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in to small cubes
all purpose flour
2 oz or so soy sauce
2 or 3 tbsp sesame oil
brown sugar
ramen noodles


take the chicken and coat it the flour. heat oil in large pan or skillet, and pan fry up the chicken. when it's coooked through add the soy sauce, and brown sugar, let cook down for a minute so the sauce thickens up a little bit. serve over a package of drained ramen noodles.

tasty, cheap, and fast.