<p>I live in a dorm, and I’m kind of tired of their dining hall food. We have a little kitchen, and I was wondering if anyone can suggest any recipes for easy-to-make healthy food. (I’m not a vegetarian) Thanks.</p>
<p>-cook a small steak (treat yourself to a small shell steak) in a pan on top of the stove with a little butter melted in the bottom of the pan and cook steamed vegetables (frozen vegetables are fine).</p>
<p>-pasta—make it any way you like. Add a jar of tomato sauce or make it simple with a little olive oil, garlic, and basil. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serve with a nice green salad.</p>
<p>-make an omelet and fill it with whatever you like–i.e. cheese, peppers, ham, diced tomatoes.</p>
<p>–you could buy a cooked rotisserie chicken or a couple of pieces of cooked fried chicken and then cook your own side dishes like vegetable, rice (Knorr brand sells flavored rice side dishes with easy instructions on the back of the package–add water, a tablespoon or two of butter, contents of package, and cook), or bake a potato.</p>
<p>[Cheap</a> & Easy Recipes for Students – Health Education – Student Health Services – Minnesota State University, Mankato](<a href=“Student Health Services | Minnesota State University, Mankato”>Student Health Services | Minnesota State University, Mankato)
^link to easy recipes for students</p>
<p>Are you in the north? Here’s a hint: winter is nearing. Canada geese are very stupid, and very tasty. (Make sure you have access to a large oven before you do anything drastic, though.)</p>
<p>Stir-fry is delicious and nutritious and is very easy to make: fry your food in a pan with stirring. 
Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive or veggie oil in a pan, toss in cut up chicken breast meat (or any other meat you like), cook until almost done. Add your favorite veggies (onion, carrots, broccoli, red bell peppers, peas, etc.), cook a bit more, add your favorite sauce (I like kalbi and Yoshidas sauces), cook with sirring for a couple of minutes. The whole cooking process takes about 15 minutes (for chicken). Serve over rice or your favorite noodles. You can buy frozen or fresh stir-fry veggie mixes or make your own.</p>
<p>I’d suggest frying the vegetables first, especially onions, otherwise you’ll have overcooked chicken and undercooked vegetables. Frying the onions until they are translucent releases their flavor. Add chicken, cook until almost done. Set aside. I’d blanch or steam the vegetables (or microwave them with a bit of water and covered with wrap) for a minute or two, then add them to the onion and chicken mixture and add the sauce. If using frozen vegetables, I’d put them in boiling water to thaw them and cook them.</p>
<p>My S lives on his own. From what I’ve gathered, he makes omelets with ground meat (pork or beef) and peas, or onions and tomatoes and eats that with rice. Or a pork chop and salad with rice (he has a small electric rice-cooker, and that seems the easiest thing to do. He spreads salt and herbes de Provence onto the pork chop as it cooks. He alternates rice with noodles. He can get fresh noodles at his supermarket and they cook faster and taste better than the dry ones.
Sometimes, he makes stew. In that case, he makes enough each time to last more than a meal, but I doubt that you could do that with only a small dorm kitchen.</p>
<p>Some thoughts and suggestions here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/786074-recipes-needed-novice-cook.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/786074-recipes-needed-novice-cook.html</a></p>
<p>From college student to fellow college student, I only have one suggestion: buy a George Foreman grill. It’s stupidly easy to use. Buy some lean ground beef, get some seasoning, and you can make some awesome hamburgers.</p>
<p>marite, I should have said that I like my stir-fried veggies crisp (a la Mongolian grill), even the onions. If you like them more or less “well-done”, do as marite says. Marite’s way works much better for frozen veggies than mine.</p>
<p>Another easy thing to make is rice pilaf (with meat or vegetarian varieties). There are many reicpes on the web.</p>
<p>There must be bezillions flavors of ramen nuddles. One for each day, under 50 ¢/pkg. Be adventurous and try the cricket. </p>
<p>Enjoy.</p>
<p>Isn’t there a book called “365 Ways to Prepare Raman Noodles” or something like that?</p>
<p>Where will you store any food you buy to cook? If you have a small fridge, buy yourself some eggs, cheese and veggies and learn to make scrambled eggs with veggies and cheese (easier than trying to flip an omelette). You can also get some great soups in a can that are like full meals. BUT you might not find those any tastier than the dorm food.</p>
<p>Quesadillas are easy. Just buy some soft taco shells and cheese. Melt a little butter in a skillet and cook on each side until cheese melts. For extra protein, you can buy some precooked chicken strips and shred them up in the cheese before cooking. Add salsa if you like. My soph. S loves these. If you’d like rice, you can buy the precooked kind in the pouch and just pop it into the micrwave. Heat up some canned black or refried beans and you have an easy Mexican meal</p>
<p>My oldest son survived freshman dorm life because of the George Foreman. The dining food at his school was heavy and greasy and really bothered his stomach. The dorm also had a grill outside and the guys often grilled chicken breasts or burgers even in the coldest winter if they didn’t use the George Foreman. All the above ideas are great, omelets, stir fry and quesadillas are especially (cheap and) easy. Pastas are super easy these days, all kinds of great tasting raviolis, or plain pastas and pasta sauces along with a bagged salad and some dressing and you can make and feed friends. You don’t need many implements or pans for any of the above. Be creative.</p>
<p>That old stand by comfort food: grilled cheese sandwich (use whole wheat bread to make it a tad more healthful) and cream of tomato soup.</p>
<p>Melt some butter in a pan, place a slice of bread into the butter; swirl it around for a few seconds and remove it. Place the second piece of bread into the butter in the pan; place sliced cheese and then place the other piece of bread on top, butter side up. Cook until brown, flip the sandwich and cook until the second side is brown. Tada: grilled cheese sandwich.</p>
<p>Luke, there are many simple, fast and nutritious recipes posted all over the web. But there is more to cooking than just boiling and stirring. Let’s talk FOOD SAFETY. Never put cooked meat back in the bowl that held raw meat. Wash your hands and utensils carefully (and with plenty of soap!) after handling raw meat. Cook your chicken until there is no pink color left. There is no such thing as medium-rare poultry, but there are such foodborne diseases as salmonella and listeria. Assume that all chicken and eggs harbor these bacteria and cook these foods thoroughly. And again, wash your hands and your dishes with soap.</p>
<p>Bon appetit!</p>