Edited By: Veronika Potylitsina
Written By: Sarah Dai
For many people, cooking in college is such a hassle. On top of the enormous, never-ending piles of homework, living on your own, and trying to navigate through the large campus, nobody wants to add in the stress of making food too. While most residences on campus do offer meal plans, there is still a huge population of commuters and non-meal plan students. In that population, there are two kinds of people: those who are pro-chefs that can create delicious and gourmet meals no problem, or those who come into university having no clue how to even work the stove. Unfortunately for me, I do not have a meal plan and happen to fall into the latter category when I first came here. At home, making food was just never something I had to think about. However, I do love food, so it has been pretty fun experimenting with different meals and recipes. I have discovered that even for people with no culinary experience like myself, you can still cook up a pretty solid meal that is simple and not time-consuming. Here are some tricks and easy recipe ideas that I have learned along the way that has helped me not starve to death in the first few months of university.
ROAST EVERYTHING
First things first: roasting. This 100% saved my hungry butt for the first few weeks of school. It’s easy, convenient and don’t require any cooking skills whatsoever! Here are the easy 5 steps to this yummy dish:
1. Preheat your oven to 425-450°F.
2. Wash and cut up some veggies (my favorites are cauliflower, potatoes, string beans, and broccoli, but you can put in anything!) They should be around bite-size pieces, this makes it easier to roast in the oven.
3. Spread the veggies onto a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss everything together with a fork.
4. Put into oven and set timer for about 30 minutes. Different vegetables will have slightly different timing so check on it every 10 minutes or so. Soft and thin veggies like zucchini, peppers, and green string beans tend to cook within 20 minutes while root vegetables will most likely take 30+ minutes. Here is a roasting time chart to make things even easier!
5. It’s done when the veggies are slightly browned and there are a few charred bits on the edges. That will make it extra tasty! Take the pan out of the oven with some oven mitts.
6. Put onto a plate and serve! Add some toast or rice and pre-cooked chicken slices with your veggies to make for a complete and balanced meal.
BANANA PANCAKES
Okay okay, this is my favorite recipe EVER! I think it might be the very first dish I tried cooking on the stove that didn’t completely fail. Basically, I was on the hunt for healthier version of regular pancakes and I found so many people talking about these magical “banana pancakes”. I decided to give it a go because it looked pretty delicious to me.
Here are the steps:
1. Grab one large banana and two medium-large sized eggs.
2. Mash the banana up in a bowl with a fork (fastest way!).
3. Crack the two eggs open in a separate bowl and give it a good whisk.
4. Combine the two ingredients and mix well. It’s perfectly okay if there are small chunks of banana; it will turn out just fine.
5. Add a dash of baking powder (although if you really don’t have this ingredient, it’s okay too. I have forgotten to add this so many times and I think it doesn’t make a huge difference).
6. Grab a medium-sized skillet and turn it to low-medium heat.
7. Put in a small chunk of butter and let it melt for a bit.
8. Now it’s time to add the batter! Take a ladle or spoon and scoop up some batter and pour it onto the skillet. Keep the size considerably small, about the size of a mason jar lid circle (it will be easier to flip!).
9. Let it cook until bubbles start forming on the top (usually about 2-3 minutes). Now add in any toppings you would like; I love chocolate chips and blueberries on my pancakes!
10. Take a spatula and slide it underneath the pancake. Because the pancake is pretty small, flipping shouldn’t be too bad. If you find that it’s still really runny and difficult to flip, then wait a couple more minutes.
11. Flip it and wait another 1-2 minutes and it’s ready to go!
12. Place your banana pancakes on a plate. Stack it up and make it look fancy AF. Drizzle with maple syrup (peanut butter is also pretty great!) and serve.
**Disclaimer: this recipe makes a healthier alternative to pancakes and only holds two main ingredients so obviously it’s not going to taste exactly like real pancakes. Although it looks pretty much looks like real pancakes, the taste is pretty banana-centered (which I actually love because it’s sweet without being overly sweet). That being said, it’s very delicious and filling so I recommend giving this a go!
WHITE RICE ON THE STOVE
So, I found this to be one of the most helpful uni food hack, especially for all you rice-loving folks. Personally for me, I didn’t bring a rice cooker with me when I came here, so I went from eating rice for dinner everyday to going 2-3 weeks without it. I began CRAVING it. Even though there were Chinese food trucks on campus, they were sometimes a bit too greasy for me (not to mention way too expensive if I ate that everyday). So, I wanted to see if I can discover any recipes that would allow me to cook rice without a rice cooker. After a lot of searching, I finally found a recipe that allows me to fulfill this wish. I am aware many people probably already knows this, but remember, these are recipes for VERY BEGINNER cooks!! This recipe saved me from my desperate need for rice; not only does it make fluffy and delicious rice, but it’s easy and not time-consuming at all. The most important thing to remember is the ratio – 2:1; meaning 2 cups water for 1 cup of rice.
1. Fill a saucepan with water. Turn the heat to high and bring the water to a boil. Keeping the lid closed will allow it to achieve this faster!
2. During this time, measure out your rice and give it a quick wash. This will clean out the excess starches on it, which will prevent it from turning into gummy and super sticky rice.
3. Once the water boils, add the rice in. Give it a quick stir. Watch it until it comes to a gentle simmer again. Add about a tablespoon of salt.
4. Turn the heat down to low. Cover the lid and do not open until the time is up (you would be letting steam open and affect the results and timing).
5. Keep lid closed and let the rice cook for about 18-20 minutes.
6. When it’s done, the rice should be fluffy but firm and not crunchy.
7. Turn the heat off, and take the pot off the stove. Let it stand for 5 minutes.
8. Remove the lid and fluff the rice with a spoon.
9. Serve!
PEANUT BUTTER AND BANANA MUG CAKE
You can probably tell by now that banana is one of my favorite ingredients to have on hand. It incorporates seamlessly into so many recipe and adds an extra kick of sweetness and nutrition. This recipe is perfect for when I crave something sweet and indulgent. Plus, it doesn’t contain eggs, which is a bonus for me because as much as I love mug cakes, putting eggs in a microwave always weird me out a little (comment if you relate haha). Because it does not contain the egg or any oil, it is a bit healthier and richer in peanut butter flavor, and crumblier. However, I don’t find that a problem at all because it’s a mug cake anyways so I just like to eat it straight out of the mug with a spoon. I have made this mug cake countless number of times, and it never fails me. Try it, and trust me, you will not regret it.
Enjoy and happy cooking!