Gourmet College Cooking Made Easy

As many of us know, living on campus is not easy. While it comes with the perks of socializing and living an independent life, the main struggle arises when it comes to preparing a home-cooked meal. While some prefer buying the two minute noodles, others try the best theycan to prepare a meal on their own, struggling because it can be time consuming! But why go through unnecessary difficulty and spend hours on something that can be made in half the time? Here are some delicious “I feel right at home” recipes that simply take three ingredients to make and will take you just less than 15 minutes to round up, just in time for your clothes to be done in the washing machine!  

Starting with some appetizers:

Bacon Wrapped Buffalo Shrimp

Ingredients:

• ½ pound large (31-35 count) shrimp.
• ¾ cup hot sauce
• 5 slices center cut bacon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a bowl combine ½ cup hot sauce and shrimp. Toss until combined. Marinate for 15 minutes.
3. Cut bacon in thirds length-wise. Wrap around each piece of shrimp and secure with a toothpick.
4. Place shrimp on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet. Bake about 20 minutes or until bacon is crispy, flipping halfway through cooking.
5. Brush hot shrimp with remaining hot sauce.
6. Serve with blue cheese or ranch dressing. Garnish with green onion.

Classic Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

• 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup macaroni (or similar)
• ½ cup shredded cheese (your choice)

Directions:

1. Bring almond milk to a boil; add pasta and stir. Reduce heat to a gentle boil as the almond milk froths up and boils over quickly. Cook for around 8 minutes or until al dente.
2. Stir in shredded cheese and season with salt and pepper. Let sit for a couple of minutes for cheese to melt (it gets thicker as it sits), stir again and enjoy!

Now some ideas for the main course meals:

Taco Lime Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
• 1/4 cup lime juice (~2 limes)
• 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts 

Directions:

1. Mix the taco seasoning and lime juice, cover the chicken in the mixture and marinate for 30 minutes to overnight, whichever is desired.
2. Grill over medium-high heat until cooked through, about 3-5 minutes per side, let sit for 5 minutes and slice before enjoying!

Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients:

• 1 to 1.5 pounds raw shrimp (peeled or unpeeled, up to you)
• 1 .7oz package dry Italian dressing mix (or make your own)
• 1 stick unsalted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the butter to melt. Once melted, add the shrimp. Sprinkle on the Italian seasoning, & cook for 5 minutes before flipping. Flip the shrimp & cook for an additional 3-5 minutes – or until the shrimp is done (should be pink).

And last but not least, time for dessert (or breakfast- same thing though, right?!)

Peanut Butter Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized bananas
• 1 cup natural peanut butter
• 6 dates (pits removed)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a food processor, mix all three ingredients until everything is blended well.
3. Spoon batter into standard sized muffin pans. The muffin pans need to be greased or lined.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes and let cool completely before removing from the pans.

Vegan Waffles

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup plant-based milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Simply place all 3 ingredients in a blender and blend until the batter is well incorporated.
2. Preheat your waffle iron and let the waffle batter thicken until the iron is ready.
3. Cook the waffles according to your iron’s instructions. We get 2-3 waffles using this recipe, depending on how full we fill the iron, but you may get less or more as waffle iron sizes differ.
4. Serve with your favorite toppings. Our go-to is maple syrup, banana, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries.

After making some of these easy yet exquisite dishes in your dorm, you will surely be one of the most popular cooks around. So stop cooking those cheap noodles, and try to live it up.

On the plus side, you will surely impress your parents when you go back home and show them your new cooking skills!

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