Cooking in Collegetown

Hello fellow foodies, I know it’s been ages since I’ve posted, but hopefully I didn’t leave you too hungry for more.  Not much has transpired since my last post. I still love food, and still want to share with you the deliscious places on campus to grab a gourmet bite, but for now, let me share an experience I had over the summer when I was still in the beginning stages of cooking in my new college town apartment.

Having mastered the art of pasta I decided it was time to move on to bigger and better things. Seeking out a healthier grain, my new ambition became the one and only brown rice. Now I know what you’re thinking. Rice can be severely botched if not cooked properly, especially due to its rich flavor.  But I decided to take a chance. Where would Columbus be if he never sailed the ocean blue? Recently I thought I had discovered the best thing since sliced bread: Uncle Ben’s 90 seconds rice meals. What could be better than seasoned rice and vegetables in less than 2 minutes? It turns out a lot of things could be better considering one serving at 780mg of sodium! For a reference point, less than 300mg is a healthy amount so close to 800mg every night is on the fast lane to a hard attack.

So, I got out my newly bought box of Uncle Ben’s whole grain brown rice (something about the phrase whole grain makes you feel healthier before even opening the box!) and read up on the directions. I’ve come to realize that reading directions is actually a lot easier than it seems. The only other experience I’ve had with directions is when you get a new toy, and who ever reads those directions anyway? My new found feeling of being responsible was quickly outshined by confusion. Was Uncle Ben really telling me to only use a ¼ a cup of rice? Have you ever seen a ¼ of a cup? It’s tiny! I’d say it’s probably comparable to one spoonful of ice cream. And there’s no way I was only eating one spoonful of ice cream for dinner. Chuckling to myself, (Hah, ¼ of a cup? Maybe for a baby!) I decided to up the anty and put in a full cup of rice. Hey I can always save the extras for another day right? After consulting with my house mate that you’re actually supposed to cook the rice and water at the same time (Me: really, you’re not supposed to boil the water first? Jess: Nooooooooooo) I covered the lid and let it cook for a half an hour. Unable to wait a full 30 minutes, after about 24 minutes of waiting nervously to see the result of my hard work, I lifted the lid. After I recovered from a gust of hot steam I gasped. My creation had increased fourfold! The single cup of rice had blown up to an entire pot of rice. It was then that I called to my housemates, “Hey, Jess, if you were planning on cooking tonight, don’t. I made enough rice to feed all of collegetown, and then some.” A few stirs later, my rice was ready to be served. I left it in the pot to chill while I set out to tackle my next hurdle: frozen vegetables.

Vegetables are an essential part of a healthy diet. Only problem is, what true kid likes vegetables?! Now I know some of you are reading this going: I like vegetables! I really do! Alright, sure, vegetables can be yummy (sometimes). But deep down, we all know that broccoli is the enemy that causes trees to grow in your skin (I may or may not have told my younger sister one such story). As fervent as my dislike for vegetables are (minus Chinese food restaurant vegetables, they just really know how to cook their veggies, or at least drench them in salt and oil really well), I decided to push my limits. So for the second time that night I read some directions. To my surprise, the frozen veggies I had bought were even easier than I thought! All these required were 5 minutes in the microwave. You can’t top that! So 5 minutes later I carefully removed my bag of “Turkey Hill- Baby Broccoli Blend” and poured them into a serving bowl. I sprinkled some garlic and voila, microwaved vegetables served over brown rice was complete. I must say the final result was quite delicious. Well delicious for someone who has a pretty bland taste in food. But hey! It was healthy, easy and most importantly edible. You can’t ask for much more in collegetown.