Basic Training
Keep Calm and Choripán: Choripán con Chimichurri
I love reading days. By the Thursday prior to exam week, my term papers are all submitted, and there’s this easy feeling about campus – for most people, finals don’t start for another four days or so, and it’s easy to forget the storm that’s coming. I usually haul my books to the pool and [...]
But MOM! Broccoli Cheddar Soup for the Homesick Soul
“Mom?” “Yes, baby?” “Can I ask you a question?” “You want pancakes for dinner, don’t you?” “…Yes.” This is a common exchange in my apartment, and although I should mention that to my knowledge I currently have no biological children, I do have two beautiful roommates whom I love to spoil. (I certainly brag about [...]
How to Make the Undergrads Love You: Nutella Cookie Cake
Five ways to make friends in college: Leave your door open while you’re in your dorm room. People will enter. Trust me. (Disclaimer: you might want to lock it while you’re sleeping. Otherwise you might meet a few people who are already strangely familiar with you. True story.) Study in the common room. Interesting things [...]
Channa Masala for Cheapskates
Well folks, we’ve made it to mid-Winter. It was a bit touch and go up in the Northeast where I’m situated, especially after Nemo and Plato (whoever devised the names for winter storms is clearly a boss). Depending on where you’re located, you very well may have had enough of snow and bitter coldness to last you for a few years. At this point, you’ve been doing all you can to stay warm, which probably means you’ve been consuming copious amounts of soup to the point where you’re sick of every broth, cream, and lentil variety (hard to believe, but it happens).
Enter Channa Masala, a sweetheart of South Asian cuisine.
Dinner in Minutes: Ravioli with Brussels Sprouts and Bacon
While I am all for putting on a production, when I have the time and money, sometimes I just don’t feel like it, and I turn to dishes that are ridiculously easy to make: ridiculously easy and delicious. I discovered this little gem a couple of years back, and it is still as simple and [...]
Mashed Potatoes for Beginners
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, and with outlandish recipes like one for “Turducken,” a ridiculous roasted concoction of a chicken stuffed inside of a duck stuffed inside of a turkey, bombarding us at every moment, sometimes it’s easy to forget the basics. What happened to the Thanksgiving food we grew up on – mashed [...]
Better than Ramen: Garlic Carrot Couscous
Sometimes the Ramen option is tempting. When I’m grumpy and stressed out, chopping vegetables can be therapeutic. But I recognize that I am not like most college kids. Most college kids would probably rather order a pizza. Still, I’ve been there. There are nights when I simply can’t be bothered to cook. Sometimes I toss [...]
Five-Ingredient Chili
As colder weather rolls in, my kitchen starts filling up with heartier ingredients, and my cookbooks’ pages are marked and folded on chapters filled with recipes for stews, casseroles and warm baked goods. It’s funny how cuisine changes with the seasons, reflecting what grows that time of year, what is easy to prepare, what [...]
Breakfast Casserole: The Breakfast You Won’t Burn After 8 Beers
I don’t know about you, but for some reason when I’ve had a couple of drinks, breakfast food starts to sound pretty appetizing, and the morning after I’ve had my share of cocktails, it’s about the only thing that sounds appetizing. But cooking breakfast food at 2 a.m., after you’ve been drinking for hours, can [...]
Al-Salta: A Yemeni Soup Cold Cure-All
I came across this recipe after interviewing two former Peace Corps members about their dining experience in Yemen. Throughout the entire interview, they couldn’t help but go back to Al-Salta, which is the national dish of Yemen. Al-Salta is a chicken broth-based vegetable soup that is topped with a fenugreek mixture. It’s an extremely simple dish, but it’s also one that has a completely unique taste. It does not compare to any kind of soup I’ve ever tasted before, and I consider myself to be a bit of a soup aficionado.