Are you stuck on what dish to bring to your annual Friendsgiving? Are you a student with limited time and resources (and Bon Appetit as your main source of cooking inspiration)? Do not fear, impressing your friends this holiday season will be no trouble. Here are a few options of what to make and bring while on a budget (note that most of these require a stovetop!)
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Sauteed apples: Apples with butter and cinnamon is never not delicious. Sauteeing some cut apples (aim for tart, green ones but any can work) on the stove doesn’t take a lot of time, and can be accompanied with vanilla ice cream while hot. For this side, you just need butter, sugar, cinnamon, and water–all of which are pretty easy to buy.
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Roasted veggies: Another very easy recipe; CharMar (and the FFC, if you look hard enough) have various root vegetables that are easy to pop into the oven, after tossing with some olive oil and spices. Sweet potatoes, normal potatoes, squash, baby carrots, zucchini, and broccoli are usually available, and you can roast any combination of them. I like to add paprika and chili flakes with some garlic when I make this.
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Sweet potatoes with marshmallows: If you have access to a convection oven or normal oven, this recipe is super easy. All you need is sweet potatoes (which CharMar always has), marshmallows, butter, and a little sugar (if you want to get fancy you can add nutmeg and cinnamon). Just dice the potatoes, pour over the butter, sprinkle sugar, and top with marshmallows. It takes around 30 minutes at 350 degrees to bake, or until the marshmallows are golden.
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Macaroni and cheese: Everyone loves mac and cheese! If you’re looking for the crowd pleaser, a few boxes of Annie’s Mac and Cheese would be the way to go. Popping the final product into the oven for a few minutes after would give the dish a baked look. Making homemade macaroni and cheese is also an option and would potentially be a lot tastier, here’s an easy recipe!
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Cranberry sauce: Eating homemade cranberry sauce is so much better than the canned version, in my opinion. This is easy to make on the stovetop and only involves letting all the ingredients simmer in a pot. One awesome recipe I found (and will be using) only used cranberries, orange juice, sugar, and cinnamon. Adding diced pears is an easy way to put something special in the dish.
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Cheese platter: If you’re looking to splurge and flex your high level of sophistication on your friends, buy some cheeses (Eddies has an amazing selection) as an appetizer. You can make the plate look really cute by artistically adding grapes and apple slices on the side. This dish is great if you don’t have a lot of time to actually cook something but want to look like you put a lot of effort in.