Grilled Salmon with Summer Corn [Intro to Cooking]
By a stroke of luck, my days off this week allowed a visit home. To my parents home. Where I was well loved and well fed. My mother’s cooking style has always been fairly by the seat of her pants, but always delicious. My parents have grown into quite healthy eaters, and their cooking usually features low-fat, high fiber and protein foods. Salmon is a favorite here, and this week is finished with a tangy maple and soy glaze. This meal came straight from her table.
Easy Deviled Eggs [Intro to Cooking]
I haven’t always liked eggs, but I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love them deviled!

Grandma’s Chicken Noodle Soup [Intro to Cooking]
I’ve been stuck in bed for the past three days with a whole slew of symptoms (fever included), and I will admit that I’ve been a little homesick. I miss not having to deal with my roommates going in and out of the room for class.
Mom’s Sloppy Joes [Intro to Cooking]
We all have those recipes that remind us of our childhood. For me, that is this Sloppy Joe recipe. When I was little, my mom used to make this for my sisters and me every week. The flavors remind me of being home, something that I miss when I’m away at college for months at a time.
Intro to Cooking: Spanish Rice
Spanish rice is one of my absolute favorite quick meals — you can cram tons of veggies and whole grains into your diet with one spicy dish. It’s also super easy to add some chicken or tilapia for some extra protein. Either way, my recipe for Spanish rice will rapidly become one of your most-made dishes. I promise.
Our Yummiest Recipes from 2011
I really think my best moments during Intro to Cooking come when I’m trying to think up something to eat after getting home from work at 11 pm. Nothing inspires creativity quite like not going grocery shopping for two weeks and coming home to a house stocked with peanut butter, ramen noodles, and leftover chicken of questionable date. Let’s review some of Intro to Cooking’s best recipes — the ones I’m most proud of saying that I cooked!
The Best Of Intro To Cooking
If you haven’t been reading our Intro To Cooking series, you’ve seriously been missing out. Every Sunday, Intro To Cooking talks you through simple and delicious recipes that even the worst cook can master. You don’t need to resort to Easy Mac or Ramen anymore. Most of the recipes are healthy, and they’re all affordable. Why settle for subpar dining hall food when you can make something yummy and filling?

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Intro to Cooking: Healthy Macaroni and Cheese
Healthy macaroni and cheese. I’m really not playing a mean trick on you. Macaroni and cheese is one of the perfect comfort foods: cheese, carbs, creamy-yet-crunchy. I grew up eating the Kraft out-of-the-box kind, only to realize one day last summer that I was basically eating plastic and carbs. It’s just as easy to make homemade macaroni and cheese with tons of veggies and great protein that tastes as decadently cheesy as the out-of-the-box variety. I promise. Really.
Intro to Cooking: Veggie Focaccia
The original recipe from the I Love Trader Joe’s College Cookbook only had tomatoes and olive tapenade. it’s a delicious recipe, which I highly recommend, but after I made it, I wondered what other items I could add to make it healthier, but also more delicious. I settled on the idea that if you pile a salad on top of something, you are allowed to call it healthy. Even if that thing is a deep-fried hamburger or something.
Intro to Cooking: Healthy Chicken Tacos
What’s more relaxing than spending a cozy evening with your boyfriend (or your best girlfriends) enjoying homemade Mexican food and your favorite movies? After a long week, sometimes it’s nice to spend a Friday night in. And you can enjoy tasty, comforting food without completely sabotaging your mission to eat healthy.
Intro to Cooking: Ravioli in Brown Butter Sauce
Ravioli is one of my favorite dishes, because it is comforting and warm. However, I’m not even going to pretend that this is a healthy recipe: several tablespoons of butter per serving, cheese stuffed inside delicious carbohydrates. That being said, this is a comforting, easy to make dish, so don’t discount it just because of the butter.
Intro to Cooking: Cheddar Biscuits
This recipe is one of my favorites. I like to make these biscuits for family gatherings or to give as gifts. They are flaky and completely decadent, the perfect addition to a family meal or even your favorite salad.

Intro to Cooking: The I Love Trader Joe’s College Cookbook Recipe Review
When I started college, I didn’t cook. I had never really had to. I was one of those lucky kids who always came home to a homeade family dinner every single night. I was also one of those kids who was shaken back into reality by college meal plans and the reality that food is kind of expensive.