Chicken Enchilada Casserole

This meal was the result of wanting to get rid a lot of things in my pantry. This is great for college students because its very filling, will last you forever, and is cheap. It tastes better than taco bell, but still satisfies all of the saucy-cheesy cravings you could have. 

Ingredients: 

Cooked, shredded chicken

Cheese

Enchilada sauce

Refried beans or black beans 

Onions 

Salsa 

Tortillas

Salt/pepper

Cilantro

1. Mix cooked chicken with a enchilada sauce until moist. 

2. Heat up enough tortillas to cover a baking dish and make a second layer. 

3. Sauté onions until soft, add beans 

4. Heat beans, add salsa (as desired), and stir until combine. 

5. In the baking dish, add a thin layer of enchilada sauce. This will keep the casserole from sticking. 

6. Add a layer of tortillas (typically 3 to cover the bottom of a baking dish) 

7. Add a layer of the cooked chicken

8. Add a layer of beans 

9. Add a layer of cheese 

10. Add a layer of tortillas. 

11. Repeat steps 7-10 as desired. 

12. The last layer should be tortillas topped with a thin layer of enchilada sauce and cheese. 

13. Warm in an over at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. 

One square of this heavy meal should fill you up! I think its is basically necessary to garnish this with cilantro. Not only does it look pretty, but it gives the casserole a fresh flavor that cuts through all of the sauce and cheese. 

Enjoy! 

Fried Rice

In my last post I endorsed the use of crockpots. In this post, I used leftover pork to create this recipe. 

I love fried rice. That being said, I’m pretty picky about what kind of fried rice I eat. Don’t give me fried rice from Pei Wei, Panda Express, or anything from a pseudo-asian restaurant. I don’t want modern-fusion fried rice (no thanks, P.F. Changs), I want it the way it was meant to be.

Of course, everyone has their own recipe for fried rice. But I’ve found that the flavors in truly authentic fried rice are similar, and very different from the rice served at fast food or most restaurants. In addition, the majority of recipes posted online are not authentic, regardless of what celebrity chef endorsed it. 

Ingredients:

Rice, preferably white

Meat (pork, chicken, beef, shrimp, sausage)

Peas

Carrots

Onions 

Garlic 

Green Beans (optional) 

Soy sauce

Hot sauce (Sriracha) 

Hoisin Sauce

Eggs

Cilantro (optional garnish) 

Traditionally, fried rice is made with day-old rice and whatever meat and vegetables you have laying around. Its better to use day old fried rice because it is not as sticky and will not “mush” up due to all of the mixing. You can make rice just for fried rice, just let it sit while you cook the rest of the ingredients. 

To feed a family of four (with leftovers), make 2 cups of rice. It is optional to use white or brown rice, but I think jasmine white rice tastes the best. Set aside the rice as you cook the ingredients. I used leftover pork in this recipe, but you can use any type of meat. Traditionally, chicken, pork, and beef are used. With a little bit of oil in the pan, cook the meat with minced/crushed garlic and diced onions (optional). Once the meat is cooked, add the vegetables. I usually use a bag of frozen mixed vegetables that have carrots and peas. Once the stir fry is cooked, remove the mixture to a separate serving plate. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs (about 3-4 for 2 cups of rice). Scramble the eggs very well in the pan. Once the eggs are completely cooked, add the previous mixture back into the pan. Add pepper to taste (important: do not add salt at this point). Now, add soy sauce to the cooked, rested, rice. Only add enough soy sauce to leave a light soy sauce flavor: more may be added later. Add the rice to egg/meat/vegetable mixture, and add pepper and soy sauce to taste. It is important that you do not add salt because both soy sauce and hoisin sauce are salty, and you may find that the addition of salt is unnecessary. Once the rice and meat mixture is well combined, add hoisin sauce. For this serving, I would add 1/8th of a cup of hoisin sauce. Mix well. Now, taste the mixture and add soy sauce and hoisin sauce to taste. Soy sauce will make the mixture saltier, while hoisin sauce will add a sweet, difficult to describe flavor. At this point, you can add salt if the rice needs to be saltier, but you do not want the “soy” flavor. I find that I do not need more than a small pinch of salt. Oftentimes, I do not need salt at all. I like the flavor and appearance of cilantro as a garnish, but you may use parsley or nothing, if you prefer. Serve with hot sauce and enjoy! 

The recipe sounds pretty simple: eggs, meat, vegetables, and two bottled sauces. It is simple, but the hoisin sauce makes the flavors in the rice complex. That is what separates this traditional Vietnamese fried rice from the rice served in most restaurants: they only use soy sauce and chicken flavoring.  You can make this recipe healthier by using lean meats (or tofu), egg whites, brown rice, light soy sauce, and a variety of vegetables. 

Enjoy! 

Crock Pot Recipes

Image from "Biggest Loser Cookbook" by Chef Devin Alexander

At first, using a crock pot seemed daunting. "You can leave it on for how long? And it won't burn?" I didn't trust what my mother told me about it. Now that I've overcome my fear, my crockpot has become a valuable asset.

I never have time to make meals during the week. Well, I do, but cooking is very low on my list of priorities considering I'm usually behind on everything else I have going on. Cooking meals on the weekend is the perfect solution to this. Usually, I like to make something very simple in the crockpot that can be reused during the week. For example, I buy a large piece of meat (kind of pricy, but worth it if you calculate how often you will eat it) and just throw it in the crock pot. I add a few of my favorite sauces, spices, vegetables, and water, and leave it for hours. It is almost impossible to do incorrectly. Afterward, I have a nice stew to eat. This is tastes great as-is, but I get bored of food pretty quickly. Instead of eating the same soup every meal, of every day for the next week (which I have shamelessly done before), I freeze some servings that can easily be reheated. But the best part about having crockpot leftovers is reworking the ingredients into a completely new meal.

I portion the meat out and freeze or refrigerate it depending on what I have planned for the week. The meat is very versatile, and you can add spices/sauces that will completely change the flavor of the meat so it does not seem like you are eating the same meal repeatedly.

For example, I could plan my week around a braised pork stew.

Sunday: Braised pork stew

Monday: Pork fried rice

Tuesday: Pork enchiladas

Wednesday: Breakfast hash

Thursday: Pizza

... and so on. Although the meat tastes different in each meal, I often get tired of eating the same thing. So instead of creating one meal in the crockpot and using the leftovers, I typically create a few meals in a row and freeze the ingredients so there will always be different meats and meals available throughout the week. I try to spend only $50 on groceries every week or so, its important for to buy ingredients that I know I will completely finish. This means reusing leftovers and finding creative uses for common vegetables and ingredients. Some items are so versatile they are worth the splurge.

Although this post is not particularly healthy,  I have used this approach to force myself to eat better. I guess if you're a broke college student and you spend your grocery money on healthy food, you're basically forced to eat it.

Tips

cook enough brown rice for a few days on the weekend.

cook meats in bulk -- salmon, grilled chicken-- and freeze as appropriate

divide these things (including vegetables) into portion sizes

stay away from al processed foods: if it has more than five ingredients in it, it's probably processed.

This way, meals are quick, easy, and you have no excuse why you can't eat it.

Click-through these links for great recipes and ideas:
The Food Network
Food.com

Egg Rolls

Growing up, I never appreciated my mom’s cooking. If there was a choice between going to a restaurant and eating home cooked food, I preferred to go out. It was the novelty of it – my family rarely went out to dinner. Now that I don’t live at home, I wish I could eat my mom’s cooking. Fast food gets monotonous, greasy, and expensive fast. I would kill for a home cooked meal every night of the week: simple, filling, and familiar.

Egg rolls are not healthy, but this recipe was meant to be a reminder of home. They’re easier to make than they seem, and they taste better than the frozen ones you find in the grocery store. I rarely buy egg rolls at restaurants, I typically only eat homemade or from an authentic Asian restaurant. When my mom makes a batch of egg rolls, she usually makes 50 or more at a time. You’d be surprised how quickly they disappear!

Ingredients:

Egg Roll wrappers (50)

½-1 lb of ground pork

4 carrots

1 head of cabbage

Salt/Pepper/Garlic/Sugar

1-2  pkg vermicelli noodles

The first step in making egg rolls is to shred the vegetables. For this serving size, my mom uses a head of cabbage and about four carrots. You want an even ratio of carrots to cabbage. On the stove, cook vermicelli noodles according to package directions. The amount of noodles is dependent on your preference. I prefer to have an equal amount of noodles to vegetables, or slightly more noodles. Once the noodles are cooked –make sure to not over-cook them—combine the noodles with the vegetables in a large mixing bowl. Fully cook the ground pork (salt/pepper to taste), then drain excess grease. Set aside. Once the meat is cool, add it to the large mixing bowl with the other ingredients. Combine, and add salt/pepper/garlic to taste. At the end, add a large pinch of sugar. It sounds weird, but trust me, it’s necessary.

Wrapping the egg rolls is the most difficult and time consuming step in this recipe, but it is not as difficult as it seems. Peel a wrapper from the stack and place on a wooden cutting board. The cutting board ensures the wrapper will not stick while rolling. Important: start from the corner, not the middle of the wrapper. The perspective will be a diamond shape. Spoon the filling in a short, small line. Skinny lines will make the egg roll thin, thick lines make the egg roll more plump. Be sure to not make it too large, otherwise the egg roll will open while frying. I prefer a plump egg roll to a thin one.

After placing the mixture as desired, take one corner and fold it enough to just cover the line of mixture, like sealing an envelope. Use your finger to seal the mixture in tight. At this point, one corner of the egg roll wrapper should be pointed toward the middle. Roll the mixture forward so that it is encased in the wrapper in 1-2 layers. Take the sides of the wrapper and fold inward. Make sure this is tight. If it is not, the egg roll will open while frying. Roll the egg roll until the there is only a small corner left, use water to seal the flap. All of the rolling should create about 4-6 very thin layers around the mixture.

Fry these at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until golden brown on the outside. Serve with any sauce you prefer. I suggest using sweet chili sauce but some prefer soy sauce and sweet and sour sauce.

When I make these at my apartment, I only fry a few at a time. These freeze very well. I suggest making a large batch at once, and then freezing them in Ziploc bags and cooking them when you are ready to eat. Each egg roll only takes about 6-8 minutes, so these are fairly easy to cook.

Welcome to My Blog!

Most of the college students I know are very busy. We're juggling internships, research positions, and part time jobs. On top of that, we're expected to keep up with a full class load and a social life. For those of you who are far more evolved than me, doing all of this is easy. But for lesser beings like myself, eating right and exercising regularly is difficult.

Simply finding the time to eat has become increasingly difficult as I go through college. Please take me back to the simple days of freshman year where I could grab a meal at the union and take a nap in my dorm between classes. Now, meals are a social event. They act as a way for me to multitask: meet with friends, grab a meal, and take a much needed"break", before I bolt to the next meeting or class. Lunch breaks that used to be at least an hour and a half have turned into 15-25 minute breaks. Some days all I have time to do is to grab a bag of chips or something else that I can eat on the go. 

These short lunches do not lend themselves to healthy food options. By the time I come home --around 8 to 10pm-- I'm exhausted and the last thing I want to do is cook a (mediocre) meal and wash all of the dishes that came with it. 

Fortunately, I've been getting better at this whole college thing. This blog will show some helpful tips I've discovered along the way, and cheap, easy recipes (I am a student, after all). 

Malinda