Baked acorn squash - a great evening treat or light meal

I picked up some acorn squash at Haymarket over the weekend, and decided to turn this fantastic New England fall vegetable into a light evening meal after my seminar class on Tuesday. Acorn squash are nothing short of perfect when baked and served with anything - from a full Thanksgiving meal to just by itself. I halved the squash made a few knife cuts through it, and prepared it:

Brush with a little butter
Add brown sugar and a bit of maple syrup.

There are sooo many variations to this, and this was just the first one I've tried. It was quite tasty, as the squash has a great natural sweetness! A quick word about cook time - I had read that it needed about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes of baking time at 400F. This can give or take by a little bit, depending on how ripe your squash is. Make sure it's good and ripe by letting it sit out for a few days on the counter before you use it. Here's a successful result:

As for your TIP of today, look for great things to use as light meals or late night snacks that can still be inexpensive and great for you. You'll head to bed feeling happy with what you've eaten and with the lack of money you've spent (even if you have to buy some brown sugar, like I did - it keeps for a while and can be used in SO many great things!)

Honey-glazed salmon with roasted veggie melody and grilled asparagus

If there's one thing that you may be noticing about my blog, it's that I'm really aiming to eat healthfully while making things taste great. Obviously not all the time (hence the Sunday afternoon piece of chocolate cheesecake...), but hey I do what I can. One night last week, dinner was decided to be fish and veggies, but done right.

Here's the TIP of the day: treat your food with respect. In this context of salmon with veggies, DON'T use frozen vegetables that are stuck in some sauce and sans nutrients; DON'T over-season the hell out of your fish so much that it becomes an adequate substitute for a spice rack. DO use simple cooking methods and ingredients that will highlight the great flavors of the meal.

I took some veggies we had lying around - zucchini, shallots, some peppers (pictured below) and another one of those patty pan squashes, and sliced them up, laying them out on a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt/pepper. 

Pop them in to roast, around 375F. This will take a while, so be patient, don't open the oven door too much, and make sure to do this step first.

 Take some asparagus and bend the ends. Where it breaks is where it's meant to break. When you're about ready to cook the salmon, drop these in a pan with whatever kind of oil makes you happy. This night I used olive oil (which may smoke - don't worry!) but I have also used sesame oil.

Badabing Badaboom.

Salmon time.

REMEMBER: Respect is the word of the day. Respect this beautiful creature, the salmon. Season him lightly and don't over cook him.

Rub the salmon with a little olive oil and honey - a bit of pepper if you like.

Place the salmon in the pan. Here's a big TIP with getting a good sear: make sure your pan and oil are both hot BEFORE you put the fish/meat in. Notice the nice color :)
















The roasted vegetables are done when:

• they're slightly browned on the edges 
• you can cut them easily with a fork
• they look delicious

 If you've got them handy, bring some good friends along to this food party - bread and beer attended this evening.

Voila:

(added some homemade pesto on top - honey and basil go surprisingly well together!)

A great idea of rebellion all the way from Boca!

My friends Josh and Jazz came up with this quick, easy meal down in Florida! They took basic ingredients and mixed them with an Asian/Tropical flair. As Josh describes it:

Lightly breaded chicken with a pineapple compote sauce made with pineapples, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar. All served with some jasmine rice cooked in pineapple juice with string beans sautéed in garlic, ginger and soy sauce.

"wooooooowwwwwwww"


Nothing too tricky or unusual here, just some clever ideas for flavor. Thanks guys! 


Here's a TIP that's easy to pull from this dish: 
Take a basic staple like rice or couscous and cook it in a different kind of liquid than normal - chicken stock, juice, any kind of broth, etc. It will instantly add a great component to the meal!

Go with what you've got: honey balsamic herb chicken with patty pan squash and couscous.

Dinner for one last week - I decided to take some things we already had in the apartment.

TIP: Use what you've already got lying around, and just make it interesting with seasonings, cooking methods, and pairings! No need to buy tons of groceries just for one evening. 

I had some boneless chicken breasts in the fridge that I had picked up from the supermarket, essentially ready to cook. I has also stopped by a farmer's market the weekend before and had stumbled across an unfamiliar vegetable, the patty pan squash. This flying saucer-shaped squash cooks and tastes like a summer squash or zucchini, so it pairs quite well with chicken. Also, we had a container of dried couscous lying around, so I figured the three would work well together. 

That's it - chicken, veggie, couscous. 

I started the squash roasting by cutting it in half, scooping out the seeds, brushing it with oil and herbs, and letting it hang out in the oven at 380F for about ten minutes per side. 

I mixed together some herbs (thyme, rosemary) with honey, olive oil (a staple for any kitchen), salt and pepper, and brushed them on the chicken. Stuck it in a grill pan, and in no time it was almost done. I added a bit of balsamic vinegar and finished it off. 

Couscous - follow the directions on the package, and add some seasonings and herbs. 

The result: 

Look at the steps I took, and realize it took me about half an hour from start to finish...there's nothing that anyone can't do!

Gotta go check the veggies roasting in the oven for tonight's dinner!

Our first "fancy meal" of the school year! - Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Salad

Friends and I decided to test out our new apartment digs and roast a chicken for the first time! I followed a quick and easy recipe out of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. Everyone who notices my cookbook collection upon stepping into my bedroom laughs at the title, as though it's an easy fix for everything the typical college student can't do. But his recipes are simple, adaptable, and great for someone who just needs to hone his cooking skills. I'm roasting a bird.

It sounds super intimidating, and having never done it before, I made sure to allot several hours to be able to prep, cook, and enjoy the meal. Following an easy, simple recipe, and not getting too experimental the first time around definitely helped.

All it took was a whole chicken (yes I gutted it), with some fresh herbs I bought at Star Market (rosemary, thyme), some olive oil, potatoes, and salt and pepper. And *patience*.

I'm going to try to be better in the future about taking photos as I'm prepping and cooking to give you a more step-by-step reveal of what's going on in my kitchen, but as this is a retrograde post, here's what I've got!

TIP:
Here's a good tip that any college kid on a budget (absolutely totally me) can take to heart: if I have a recipe I want to make  for friends, I ask them to either chip in some funds for the purchase or bring something to go with it. In the case of the roast, Greta brought salad with strawberries and goat cheese, and Emily brought a baguette and excellent cheese. So here's a point: you don't have to get and pay for everything by yourself!!! A little in abundance is a lot!

Welcome!

Welcome to my first food blog, called Ramen Rebellion!

As a college student simultaneously pursuing two degrees, I have every excuse under the sun to place good cooking and healthy eats at the bottom of my to-do list. I have found that travel, my foodie friends, reading, and my own developing palette have led me to realize that eating simply with high quality and good taste doesn't need to be sacrificed by anyone - even if that essay is due tomorrow! This blog was created to show you what even a busy guy can manage to cook up, but also in response to the startling praise that comes with being able to perform even simple food-related tasks in an apartment. Everyone can do this - it's not an exclusive club!

Do I always feel like cooking? Absolutely not! But it's important to make good choices in any case, and new respect and admiration for simple cooking can come from some time spent in the kitchen.


I'll try to regularly update this blog with new ideas, tips, and creations that can inspire you to eat right and **enjoy food**! Put. Down. The. Ramen.