Blandness, soups, and then some

A couple of weeks ago I was sick. Being sick at college is just really not that great, because you still have to do everything you would've done anyway if you were well. Or you don't, and watching re-runs on TV makes you go stir-crazy. Then there's that whole thing where nothing tastes like anything. So what are you to do when this happens to you?

Things to do (not necessarily fun but productive):

• clean out that Tupperware with old old food that should've been cleaned out a long time ago (hey, you can't smell it now, so why not?)
• drink seltzer - to get your carbonation fix (you can't taste the soda anyway...)
• eat things that are good for you that you usually don't like
  
• eat/make soup
• eat comfort food

Examples of soups:

Carrot Kale Soup:

• onion and garlic (or garlic powder), chopped up
  
• butter
  
• carrots, chopped up
  
• kale, chopped up
• lemon juice
  
• salt, pepper, veggie or chicken broth

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, cook butter and chopped up onion and/or garlic until onion is translucent.
   
2. Add the carrots, and kale. Cook until carrots are tender.
   
3. Add the veggie/chicken broth with the right amount of water if it's in the form of a bouillon cube. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice.
   
4. Cook for 20-30mins until desired consistency.
   
5. Cream in a blender.
   

Carrot Ginger Soup - I made this and it's very good! Do it!

Grilled ham and cheese sandwich (with kale on the side):

• 2 slices of ham
• 2tbsp of butter
• 1 slice of cheese
• mayo/mustard (optional)
• 2 slices of bread

Directions:

1. Butter two slices of bead. Each on one side. Put the buttered-side of the bread down in a pan, spread mayo or mustard if desired on the un-buttered side. Add 1 slice of ham.
   
2. Add the cheese. Add 1 slice of ham on top of that.
   
3. Put the other slice of bread, with the buttered-side up on top of the rest.
   
4. Cook until desired at medium heat.
5. In the rest of the pan, you can fry other things. I tried putting kale in, and it tastes so good!

Other variations: For fieldwork we went to this farm called McEnroe one good Wednesday two weeks ago, and they had this TBA sandwich that the other intern and my professor chose. I had a bite. And it was one of the best bites of a sandwich I've had in a while. What does the TBA stand for?
Turkey, brie and avocado. Yeah. That's right. Yum!

Beets? Part II

Here's another recipe. This is called "Pyttipanna" and is easy, can be frozen, and delicious. 

Ingredients:

• Ham (or other meat), cut in small cubes
• Potatoes, small cubes
• Onion, small cubes
• Pickled beets
• Butter or oil
• Optional: egg

Directions:

1. Fry the onion in some oil, in a large pan.
2. Add the potatoes, and the meat.
3. Fry until ham/meat is golden, and potatoes are cooked. 
4. Serve with a fried egg, ketchup, and pickled beets.

This can be frozen in a ziploc for convenience later (without the eggs and the beets). 

Lentils

This is some easy stuff.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound of dry lentils
• olive oil
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
  
• minced garlic
• 1 small onion, chopped
  
• 1 bouillon cube
• circa 4 cups of water
• optional: spinach

Directions:

1. Rinse lentils.
   
2. Fry the onion, garlic and celery in the olive oil in a medium saucepan (low-medium heat)
3. One the onion is transparent, and tender, stir in the optional spinach.
4. Pour in the rest of the ingredients and stir.
   
5. Turn up the heat to medium-high, and continue stirring until it boils.
6. Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are soft (probably ½-1 hour).
   
7. That's it!

You could potentially stir in rice if you want with the lentils.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Last night I came to the realization that:

1. the spinach I bought a week ago was about to go bad
2. there was a can of artichoke hearts deep into the cupboard that I had forgotten about
3. the yogurt I bought some time ago is also going bad
4. I have an immense amount of cheese

First I started out steaming the spinach, thinking I'd just steam it so it would keep for however long, and the "almost bad" flavor would hide behind garlic, onion and potentially soy sauce or whatnot. Then I remembered the artichoke hearts and thought: hey! I'll just make a dip. So here goes.

Ingredients:

• half a bag of spinach or as much as you like
  
• 1 can of artichoke hearts
• yogurt, sour cream or cream
  
• 1/2 onion, chopped
  
• oil
  
• cheese (I used mostly Muenster and Parmesan, cheddar might be good too but didn't suit my palate in this case)
  
• optional: tabasco, garlic or garlic powder
  

Directions:

1. Fry the onions in oil on medium heat
2. Add the spinach, and stir until soft
3. Add the can of artichoke hearts (I used half of the "juice", if you prefer water, add some water)
4. Let the artichoke hearts and the spinach cook together for a while, making a "thicker" mixture by letting the water or "juice" evaporate
5. Once it's relatively thick, add yogurt or other liquid dairy, and cook
6. Add cheese (in chunks, it will melt) and stir
7. Add optional spices/seasoning!
8. Let cook to a thick, dip-like substance

If you want this to be a less chunky dip, you can always combine all the ingredients in a food processor before hand and then cook them that way.

Submitted by vefehrm

Improving that cookie mix

Some of you don't have the time, or enough confidence in your baking skills to bake your cookies from scratch. A recently graduated friend once told me how she used a basic oatmeal cookie mix, followed the directions (add water), and then proceeded to add nuts, cinnamon, chocolate chips, etc. Her friends devoured the cookies and were so impressed with her baking skills. Also, you can simply make a giant chocolate chip cookie cake in a pan as well. Always delicious with a dollop of ice cream, and maybe some hot fudge...!

Ingredients:

• cookie mix of some sort
• cinnamon, nuts, chocolate chips
• crystallized ginger
• roasted espresso beans
• green tea powder
• wheat bran
• gummibears... maybe
• sprinkles, M&Ms or other chopped up candies
• cereal
  

Directions:

1. Follow the directions on package, but add in whatever ingredients.
2. You can most likely freeze these cookies if you want to save them for another time.

Submitted by vefehrm, inspired by KMix

Herbs feature: Parsley

So using parsley can be beneficial because it's got this pretty awesome taste to it. It's also a very good source of iron. You know what they say... A bushel of parsley a day will keep the nosebleed doctor away... Anyway.

Parsley can be bought fresh, or dried. Dried parsley, to me, does not taste anything like the fresh kind you can get a small bushel for less than a dollar at say Stop N Shop. So,

Now, you may not want to use it all at once so how can you store this?

Keeping it for 2 weeks:
- I found this nifty little tip right here.

Keeping it in the freezer for longer:
- cut off the leafy parts (you can easily tear it with your fingers), throw away the stalks, keep the leafy parts in a tupperware container
- put in the freezer and take out whenever you want some (there are some of these boxes available in the freezer department at grocery stores but they are usually double or triple the price)

And now some suggestions as to using it:
- on bread with hard-boiled sliced eggs, tomatoes, salt and pepper and sprinkle parsley on top
- sardines or mackerel and parsley go well together
- potatoes any style
- rice (risotto)
- soups

Submitted by vefehrm

Cheesy Potato Soup

Cheesy Potato Soup from CT Class of 2011

Ingredients:

• 6 Golden Potatoes, washed, scrubbed, peeled, and chopped to half-dollar-sized pieces
• 1 cup of baby carrots, medium chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup half-and-half
• 1 can of chicken broth
• 1/4 cup onions, finely chopped
• 2-3 teaspoons of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon celery seed
• 4 tablespoons salt
• 4 tablespoons pepper
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

1. In a small pot, boil water with chopped carrots until soft. At the same time in a large sauce pot, boil water with chopped potatoes. In each case, when boiling point is reached, lower to medium high heat. When carrots are soft, strain and put on the side. Add the water from cooking carrots to boiling potatoes.
2. In a saucepan, sauté onions and garlic in oil on low heat until golden brown. Add 1/8 of can of chicken broth to onions and garlic, still on low heat. Let sit for 5 minutes then add half-and-half. Stir. Add celery seed, salt, and pepper to onion broth mixture. Stir.
3. When potatoes are soft and break easily when punctured with a fork, strain them. Save the remaining potato broth! Remove some smaller potato slices and join them with the set-aside carrots. Mash the majority of the potato slices until mostly smooth.
4. Combine onion broth mixture with mashed potatoes. Alternate adding potato broth and chicken broth to the potato-onion mixture as needed until creamy. Stir after each addition.
5. Mix in the carrots and potato slices to the potato soup. Add cheddar and mozzarella cheese. Stir.
6. Add extra salt, pepper, celery seed, and cheese to taste.

Note: Best served when freshly made. You can refrigerate leftover soup in a corning dish and reheat it in a pot for the new few days. If you have excess potato broth or soup broth, add 1/2 a cup or so when reheating.

Submitted by CT Class of 2011

Welcome!

Dear Vassar Students,

This blog is an attempt to collect and share all of your favourite recipes in one place. As it is in its beginning stages, we are aiming the collection towards those in senior housing (TAs, SoCos, THs) as well as Town Students. Of course you can also use these recipes if you are living in a dorm, but hey... the kitchens can be pretty limited in terms of appliances/measuring cups, etc.

Please contact vassarcooks@gmail.com for submissions, questions, requests and/or concerns. Please submit a source (book or website) if it's not your own recipe. We do not want any copyright issues!

ENJOY!

The "sections" (tags) are currently:
- quick: quick and easy
- few: few ingredients
- subs: substitutes (for situations like: "OH! I forgot vegetable oil... my cupcakes will be a disaster!" but don't worry... there's always applesauce!)
- basics: basics of cooking (boiling water, frying an egg)
- frozen: foods that can be frozen for a longer time (tomato sauce, meatballs)
- healthy: healthy/well-rounded meals
- desserts: desserts
- veg: vegan/vegetarian