Spaghetti DeepDish 4 College Cooking

Finding new ways to have traditional meals is always fun and great for putting a twist into dinner.

I have seen this concept of a "spaghetti pie" on multiple occasions, but when I realized how darn easy it was to make (and super delicious)...it seemed perfect for college cooking!! Let's go!

Spaghetti DeepDish

Equipment:

12" Springform (or plain old pyrex rectangle)

Large mixing bowl

Large skillet

Ingredients:

1 lb ground hamburger or sirloin

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 lb spaghetti, cooked al dente and drained

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 cups marinara sauce

1/2 cup ricotta

1 cup mozzarella, divided half

1/2 cup parmesan, grated

1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp salt

Fresh ground pepper

1-2 Tbls freshly chopped parsley (optional)

Instructions:

1. Wash your hands.

2. Preheat oven to 350F degrees and spray your pan with non-stick PAM.

3. Saute onions until translucent.

4. Add meat, garlic, 1 tsp salt, and ground pepper. Brown meat. Set aside.

5. Boil and drain pasta. Drizzle with oil. Set aside.

6. In a large mixing bowl, add marinara, ricotta, 50% mozzarella, parmesan, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.

7. Add pasta and cooled meat mixture.

8. Stir well and pour into the prepared form.

9. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella and a little extra parmesan.

10. Bake at 350F degrees x 25-30 minutes until top is golden brown.

Always try to invite a few friends for this dish. Prep some extra marinara sauce and parmesan for sprinkling! Add awesome Garlic Bread or a simple salad.

Rice Pudding 4 College Cooking

Leftovers easily get overlooked after sitting a day or two in the fridge...and then, suddenly...they are growing things you never knew existed, and wind up being ditched--gone! Money gone! Food gone! All valuable assets for the budget-conscious college student maximizing his or her college dollars!

Rice Pudding 4 College Cooking

Simple foods like rice, once prepared, can often be re-purposed for a separate dish; thus, avoiding waste and loss! I call these items 'high-yield' foods. For example, rice is a perfect college pantry staple--cheap, comes in bulk, has a long shelf life, offers versatility, requires little skill to make, and has multi-purpose for college cooking! 

White Rice

Other examples of high-yield, multi-purpose foods for college living and campus cooking include eggs, couscous, chickpeas, bulgher wheat, or oats--if you are on a tight budget...learn to store and use these foods--never mind the nutritional value these items provide!

Rice Pudding 4 College Cooking

Equipment:
Medium 3-quart sauce pan
Spoons

Ingredients:
1 1/2 - 2 cups cooked rice
1 cup milk
1/2 cup half & half
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2-3 Tbls cinnamon sugar (to taste)
Pinch of salt

Instructions:
1. Wash your hands.
2. Combine rice, half-and-half, and milk in the saucepan. Liquid should cover almost cover the rice.

3. Add the cinnamon.
4. Add the cinnamon sugar.
5. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to 'SIMMER' / 'LOW'. Stir occasionally.

6. Adjust cinnamon and sugar components to taste.
7. Once the mixture begins to thicken, remove from heat x 10 minutes.
8. Mixture should be thickened but somewhat runny. Add a little milk if too thick.
9. Serve up with a dollop of whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon.

No Waste Left Behind: making Great Croutons

Doesn't it always seem that you buy a beautiful, fresh baguette or Italian Loaf, but are never capable of finishing it? You know that by the next morning you will have a "brick" of bread waiting for you--not chewy or crusty from a day ago--just inedible!  

Have a back up plan for maximizing that loaf of bread, and the $3 bucks it cost you! French Toast is an awesome option for breakfast; or, use it for Homemade Croutons instead of buying nasty, stale, powdered Ranch dressing bread cubes! Bonus: your salads will taste all the better!

Stretch your college grocery dollars with this ultra easy recipe I picked up from a cooking class with The Chopping Block in Chicago! Great classes with fantastic instructors in a fun, relaxing environment to learn basic cooking skills! Check them out this weekend. (Disclosure: I have no financial incentive to promote them)

DIY Croutons For Caesar (Any) Salad

Equipment:

Mixing bowl

Baking sheet

Parchment Paper (optional)

Ingredients:

3 cups Baguette or other white bread, torn or cut into bite-size pieces

Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil (use Regular Olive Oil and Fresh Garlic otherwise)

Salt & Pepper

Instructions:

1. Wash your hands!

2. Preheat oven to 375F degrees

3. Tear or cube your bread.

4. Combine bread in mixing bowl with drizzle of grapeseed oil. 

5. Bread should appear to be glistening once tossed with enough oil. 

6. Add salt & pepper.

7. Add herbs if you like. 

8. Spread onto baking sheet in single layer.

9. Bake 10 minutes until golden brown. 

10. While you are waiting, prep your Romaine Lettuce, Parmesan, and any protein you may be adding to it!

Fantastic condiment for the Caesar Salad  coming to the blog this week! Or any other salad!

No Waste Left Behind: Roasted Tomatoes

Don't you hate coming home from a weekend off-campus to find half of your fridge close to rotting or rancid? Money is precious when living as an independent college student, so having to chuck your fruits or veggies or crusty-turned-concrete bread away...well, not so fun!

Recently, I have been away from work enjoying a small vacation to Charleston, SC with friends; but, arriving home early this morning, my fridge had a variety of things needing a date with the sink and garbage disposal. Fortunately, only one of my twenty plus little tomatoes was going rotten,. Nonetheless, I needed to act fast to salvage any of them.

Tomatoes (and root vegetables like potatoes, carrots) can be on the verge of bad, and yet, still redeemable with some simple measures, i.e. roasting. Roasting coaxes out all the flavor while preserving the food so that your college budget isn't thrown out the window when you over-buy groceries or don't get around to using a perishable item.

So, don't throw them out!
Especially tomatoes!

Once roasted, add them...

...to pasta.

...to a salad.

...to fresh cheeses or slices of toast or other crusty bread.

...to a sandwich.

Roasting does take some time with tomatoes, i.e. nice and slow, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Perfect so you can take care of other things like studying, getting laundry done, etc.

I made a quick little snack with some leftover mozzarella cheese, drizzled everything with balsamic glaze, a few herbs and my roasted tomatoes. Only thing that could have made it just a tad better...some crusty fresh baguette.

(Adapted from Ina Garten's Back To Basics cookbook. Omitted the sugar and used the tomatoes I had instead of Roma tomatoes.)

Roasted Tomatoes with Mozzarella & Basil

Equipment:
Large baking sheet with rim
Cutting board
Sharp knife

Ingredients:
20 plus medium cherry or sweet salad tomatoes
1/4 c. Olive oil
1-2 Tbls Balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt & pepper
Fresh Mozzarella
Fresh basil and/or thyme or a sprinkle of dried
Balsamic glaze (this is thicker and sweeter)

Instructions:
1. Wash your hands.
2. Preheat oven to 275F degrees.
3. Halve and remove seeds from your tomatoes.

4. Arrange tomato halves in single layer on baking sheet.
5. Drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar (or syrup), garlic, salt and pepper.

6. Roast your tomatoes for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 275F degrees. Remove from oven and cool.

7. Prep a platter of mozzarella or fresh crusty bread and layer with roasted tomatoes, balsamic glaze, fresh basil and olive oil.

8. Or, boil some pasta to toss with the roasted tomatoes--simple and delicious.

See what you think. If you like what you are eating, leave me a comment. Would really appreciate some feedback.

Raid The Fridge Pasta Salad

What do you do with all those ends of vegetables, herbs, half boxes of pasta, half empty bottles of salad dressing, chicken or cheese? You really hate to waste it or throw everything out, but then again, it's not enough for anything else, right? And if it just sits there, it'll get mushy, stale or turn colors and odors you never knew existed!

Well the easiest thing to do is to check your fridge at the end of every week, and take inventory.  Chop up all the leftovers and combine. Use up whatever you can before heading to the grocery store to restock with fresh items.

(Adapted Southern Living and an article they just featured on using 'leftovers'). 

Equipment:

Large saucepan

Mixing bowl

Ingredients:

Ends & pieces of any veggie you like, chopped:

-Peppers

-Cucumber

-Cherry tomatoes 

-Carrots

-Red onion or green onion

-Celery

-Mushrooms

Other "ends":

-cheeses

-feta

-leftover rotisserie chicken or extra chicken breast

-olives

-salad dressing

Instructions:

1. Wash your hands.

2. Boil 2-3 cups pasta unless you have leftovers from a separate meal.

3. Prep your veggies and herbs.

4. If you are boiling water, you can drop certain veggies (carrots, broccoli, snowless) in the pasta water for 1-2 minutes to "blanch" them, ie soften them.

4. Combine cooled pasta and veggies in a mixing bowl.

5. Add chopped herbs.

6. Add cheese and chicken.

7. Add your favorite, almost-gone, salad dressing.

8. Have it as a side, snack or meal!