15 minutes ago: I'm standing in my kitchen, pouring some soy sauce over cubed steak. Thinking to myself about the next issue of the Ambassador Club's January issue of "The Green Jacket" that I have to put together, and of the article Paige wrote for it. Paige is also a blogger, and that causes me to think to myself: "Damn, I haven't written a blog in a while..."
Did you hear that? It was the sound of a light bulb clicking on.
Now granted, sometimes I'm not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but this made me really *facepalm* myself. My inner Julia Child (and my love for the movie Julie and Julia) just gave me the bright idea:
Blog. About. Cooking.
Now, I'm not going to go ahead and rip off the movie, but this is what I have to say: whoever told you that eating well on a college budget is a flat-out liar. You can totally eat healthy and feel good about that dinner you just whipped up. Not because you managed to cook and NOT burn down your residence, but because what you eat actually had more nutritional value than anything else you've eaten this the term started.
Luckily for me, there is a store here called Erie County Farms where I can get produce and meats for dirt cheap. A chain store I recommend is Wegman's, the produce there is usually on the more reasonable side and the quality of it is consistently good. It's important to buy fresh vegetables- they taste better when they are cooked, and usually have limited additives to them.
It also wouldn't be fair to sit here and preach to you about good eating and the fact that it's feasible in a college setting without sharing some of my recipes! Here is one for now, I'll be sure to post more along the way.
Steak Salad:
Ingredients:
Cubed Steak (or you can buy normal steak and cut it yourself.)
Any kind of lettuce. I usually use Romaine and some Spinach.
Seasonings: Montreal Steak Seasoning, Pepper, Garlic Powder, and Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
In a bowl, place thawed steak chunks and cover with however much "seasonings" you deem fit, but use enough to coat the pieces, and let them sit for at least 5 minutes.
Using a knife of some sort, chop up the Romaine Lettuce and spinach, and place them on the plate.
Spray a frying pan with non-stick spray and place the steak cubes in. They'll take about 5 or so minutes to cook, be sure to flip them over. You want a little pink in the middle, no one enjoys eating steak that resembles rubber.
While the steak is cooking, drizzle as much salad dressing as you want over the lettuce. I like low-fat Thousand Island, but really any dressing would work. I would imagine that a balsamic vinegarette would be reallly good.
Once the steak is cooked as you like, put it over the lettuce!
And, in the words of the ageless Julia Child...
......bon appetit!
