Hello again, lovely collegiettes! Welcome back to Cornell! It’s my last semester, so I’m having lots of nostalgic flashback moments. Not to mention, I have a roommate who thinks it’s her duty to loudly announce whenever we do something for the last time. Some recent examples include: the Last Time We’ll Buy Textbooks, the Last Night Before Classes Start, and the Last First Day of Classes. It’s kind of traumatizing.
I think I deserve some comfort food.
Here’s something a quick and easy family favorite to get your semester off to a good start: Bean Dip. It’s delicious, (kind of) nutritious, and as simple as its name, so whether it’s your soul or your toes that need warming, don’t hesitate to get started on this perfect lunch, dinner, or party dish-to-pass.
Bean Dip
1 8-oz stick cream cheese
1 15-oz can black beans, drained
salsa
shredded cheddar cheese
tortilla chips
Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
Using the back of a spoon, spread the cream cheese in a layer along the bottom of an 8”x8” baking dish. Drain the can of black beans well (this is an important step, as it prevents the dip from being too runny), then spread the beans on top of the cream cheese layer. Sprinkle the bean layer with chunky salsa that has been drained. Cover the whole thing with a generous layer of cheddar.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese looks melted and starts to brown. Allow the dip to cool for 5 minutes, then dig in with tortilla chips & prepare to overindulge!
This recipe serves three, or two if you’re very hungry. Cooking for one? You can really make this dip in any size dish, as long as it’s oven safe. Just use less of each ingredient for a personal portion (or double the recipe for a 9”x13” baking dish).
Enjoy!
Oh, and while you’re waiting for it to bake, look up some other cooking ideas on some of these great sites.
First, check out this article featuring some of HC Cornell’s favorite food blogs. I particularly recommend Joy the Baker: everything (sweet & savory) I’ve made using one of her recipes has turned out deliciously—and I’ve made quite a few of them!
Then pay a visit to some of these sites:
Allrecipes.com: This site has recipes for pretty much anything you’d ever want to eat. You can even input the random ingredients that have been sitting in your fridge for too long, and it will spit out something you can make with them. I’d recommend looking for recipes with more than 200 reviews and a rating of four stars or higher.
Epicurious.com: This site is very similar to Allrecipes, but has a better selection of categories to browse.
FoodNetwork.com: If you like lots of videos to accompany your recipes, this is the site for you!
Also check out Food.com, BettyCrocker.com, and Cooks.com.
And if all else fails, just go to GrubHub.com (a site that lists all the restaurants in the Ithaca area that will deliver straight to you!) and order some take-out.