Minimalism at its Tastiest

So Friday night is the unofficial-official cooking night.

This Friday, my friends and I scavenged Hewitt for food. They had some decent food, the typical college menu: fried chicken breasts (or "breaded asiago chicken"), nachos, etc. Well luckily for my lazy self, I was saved by a ring. A telephone ring. It was my friend, Jess, calling with a dinner invite.

This post is dedicated to Jess. The chef of the week.




Sometimes the best dinner is the simplest dinner.

Jess made a wonderful and healthy dinner. Completely guilt-free. (the best kind)

MENU:
Part of a baguette, some goat-cheese and fig spread (bought at Westside market. some of the most amazing spread ever), Salad, Couscous, and Salmon.

Appetizers
baguette and spread.
very simple, easily storable. delicious.

(Tip: If you enjoy baguettes, but are afraid of keeping them because they get stale... FEAR NO MORE. Sprinkle some water on the stale baguette and then put it in the microwave for 15 seconds at a time. Usually, you will never need more than 30 seconds. Afterwards, the baguette will be stale no more)

Salad
-some mixed greens (easily can be found at your dining hall salad bar)
-cherry tomatoes (same as the greens)
-some Parmesan cheese
-a little vinaigrette

Couscous
-buy a small box
-follow directions

Salmon
-Filet of salmon
-Some vinaigrette

-Jess marinated the salmon in vinaigrette (same as the salad) for 30 minutes.
-Then she put it in the oven (in a pyrex pan) at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Now let me tell you. This salmon was perfect. If you follow this salmon recipe and it turns out exactly the same as the one I ate Friday night, you will have salmon with perfect texture and a light, but super tasty flavor.


Now, this dinner is not only incredibly easy to make, but also quite inexpensive to make.

I know most students are on a budget. No, strike that. Who isn't on a budget?
So waste not, want not.

The couscous (average $3.19), Salmon ($11-$15), and Salad (free from your local salad bar ;] ). Also the price of the parmesan ($3 or so... can be kept for later), and vinaigrette (avg $4).
This made enough food for a full meal for 4 people (with leftovers!)!
Split the total price between 4 or 5 people, and it's a $5 meal. Seriously, go buy yourself a coffee and meanwhile, I'll be enjoying a deliciously healthy and tasty meal.

(disclaimer: These photos are found online at flikr. This is not from the meal we ate, but it might as well have been. minus the tomatoes and green beans... but there's a few ideas...
Also, for future reference my photos will all be real! I will be taking photos of the food I create, and sometimes the food my fellow Epicureans make. I hope you are looking forward to it).


Otherwise, please live well. Eat well.

Living the Life

So this is blog post numero uno, and I welcome you.

Now before I begin I should probably explain why I have joined the world of unceasing chatter. Well here it is. Why not?
(You'll find if you ask yourself "why not?" instead of "why?" you end up with a lot more choices)

The point of this blog is to let me share my love for food with anyone who is interested. I titled this section "Living the Life." Why? Because I want to live "the life." What is "the life?" Whatever I want it to be. In this case I want to be healthy, eating well, eating conveniently, and on the cheap side. I feel like most cooking shows/blogs/books/etc are focused solely on one aspect. My plan is to tackle all of them. But bear in mind that it's a big task. Not every recipe will cover every goal. But part of living the life is indulging yourself!

I plan on having a post once every week... ish.
And once my friends and I become more technologically advanced, cool video clips with demonstrations and fun amusing randomness will be posted. Pictures, too... Just give me time.
For now you will have to deal with rambling. blah blah FOOD

So Friday night I went to my local dining hall (Hewitt at Barnard College) and took out a few ingredients I thought I could use. Now this will be a common theme of my blog: maximizing your meal plan/dining hall. If you're cooking for yourself, this is especially easy since you don't need to take out too much. I went to the salad bar and picked up some raw mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. (This Friday was an especially heinous night in the cafeteria.) I also picked up some cod on the way out.
I tried to save the tasteless cod. I put chili powder and pepper on it. The insides were too bad to save. One bite was like rubber. So that was trashed.
That being said. Everything on this blog is an experiment. Cooking is an experiment. It won't always work out, but a good chef can still make a meal in the end.

I took a few other ingredients that I had laying around my room:

-canned artichoke hearts
-capers
-olive oil
-pasta shells
-canned tomato sauce
-garlic

Now most of these ingredients last a long time and can be stored for a while, so I recommend them. But if you need to cut something out, I'd start with canned artichokes or capers. (But they are delicious). I sauteed the tomatoes and mushrooms in oil and garlic and added half a can of sauce (only because I was making a meal for 5 people). If you're only cooking for one or two, the cut up tomatoes should make enough sauce for the pasta. When cooking for more, having a little canned sauce that you can add a few spices to will be essential.

When the pasta was done, it was pretty damn deliciouso.
It reminds me of the movie "The Big Night." If you haven't seen it, go see it. It's amazing. Probably the best food movie ever created. A really good friend of mine gave it to me as a present, and for that I am indebted to him forever.



Otherwise, have a good week. And I hope that you're enjoying your food and your life. Remember. Live Well. Eat Well.