Credit: Pooja Gandhi

If you’ve been a CollegeCandy reader for some time, you know we run our Intro to Cooking series every week, where even the most kitchen-shy co-ed can find easy, yummy recipes to please her suitemates (and sweet tooth!). Well, we’ve changed up the syllabus for Intro to Cooking: you’ll still get the fabulous recipes you love, but we’ll be including background nutritional info on specific ingredients that are must-haves in every college girl’s pantry.

I can’t praise this vegetable enough. Known for its unique, deep-violet hue and dense texture, eggplant is a perfect choice to substitute an extra serving or two of veggies for your usual bread or pasta. It’s quite filling on its own, and is low in calories (just 27 per 1 cup serving). It packs tons of phenolic antioxidant compounds, which boost the immune system and fight free radicals in the body.

Easy meals:

1. Chop an eggplant into small cubes, toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and lay on a baking tray. Pop it in the oven for 30 minutes (or until edges brown and it is soft to the taste) at 350 degrees. Serve as you would potatoes, i.e. alongside a burger, veggies, scrambled eggs, etc.

2. For eggplant parmigiano, slice an eggplant into half-inch disks. Crack four eggs into one bowl, place bread crumbs in another bowl, and coat each disk first in the egg, then the bread crumbs, repeating the process once.  Place disks on a greased baking tray, covered with marinara and layers of mozzarella cheese, in the oven for 30-45 mins on 350 degrees. Read More »

Sure, the Fourth of July has passed, but we still have a couple months of lovely summer left, and what goes better with summer than throwing some food on the barbie and chowin’ down? Oh, and some beers. Afraid of the BBQ? Don’t even know where to begin? Used to letting the guys take care of it?

Ladies, grilling isn’t just for the boys! You too can become a master griller and show up those braggarts who claim the grill is man territory.

I learned how to grill at a young age because my dad is a phenomenal griller (his BBQ ribs are some of the best you’ll ever have…not that you will be having them anytime soon) and taught me the tricks of the trade right from the womb. The truth is, grilling is easy…as long as you know the rules. So, here they are.

There are two kinds of barbecuing: direct and indirect heat.

Direct heat is when you place the food directly over the source of heat/open flame. This type of grilling is best for thinner cuts of meat and items such as hot dogs, bratwurst, burgers, fish and pork chops.

Indirect heat is when you grill items outside of the main source of heat so they cook at a slower pace, more thoroughly, and without burning the outside of the meat. This is used for thicker pieces of meat such as whole chickens, beef and pork roasts. (Note: most of the “basic grilling” people do uses the direct heat method.) Read More »

After the grilled cheese post, I decided it’s only fair to advertise a favorite among my vegan buddies. A cheeseless pizza, topped with salad, is a perfect combination of appetizer and entree.

You’ll need:

½ cup mushrooms (if you don’t want to use fresh, use one can, drained)

¼ small eggplant, sliced

¼ small zucchini, sliced

¼ cup Black olives

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small can tomato sauce

¼ small onion, diced

½ red or green pepper, chopped

*season with oregano, basil, and garlic to taste

1 cup chopped romaine lettuce

1 cup chopped arugula

Balsamic vinaigrette

Wheat pitas (one per pizza)

For your own marinara: In a saucepan, heat approximately 1 tablespoon of olive oil and brown diced onion, chopped red peppers, and add tomato sauce. Season with oregano, basil, and garlic to taste, and set aside. **If you don’t feel like making your own marinara, feel free to purchase a jar of pizza sauce and use that instead to save time. Read More »

When I was little, I used to hate goat cheese. It tasted so, for lack of a better word, weird. Now that I have a wider culinary palette and more sophisticated tastes (or so I hope), I try to incorporate goat cheese into more of my cooking.

In this pasta, the goat cheese flavor isn’t overwhelming, but it does make the dish nice and creamy and give it a unique taste.

To make enough pasta for two, you’ll need one baby eggplant, about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, one small onion, one large non-green bell pepper (or two small ones), two garlic cloves, 3 tablespoons of fresh basil or ½ teaspoon dried, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, enough pasta for two, 1/3 cup dry white wine (optional), and 2 ounces of fresh goat cheese.

First things first: heat the oven to 375, and peel the baby eggplant. Slice it into ¼” half-moons. Rub the eggplant pieces with half the olive oil, and place them on a baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes, turn them over, then bake 10-15 more minutes. Read More »

Eggplant parmesan… the words make my mouth water, and for good reason. Eggplant parmesan is generally thought of as restaurant food, and seems a little ambitious to make it at home—let alone for just yourself.

But not anymore! This recipe takes prep time, but makes up for it in the simplicity and health factors (it’s all baked, not fried in gallons of grease).

You’ll need one baby eggplant (about half the size of a regular eggplant), like this graffiti eggplant.

You’ll also need one large, fresh tomato (chopped), a little salt, about 3 tablespoons of olive oil, half an onion, one garlic clove, ½ teaspoon oregano, ¾ teaspoon basil, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese. Read More »