Some of My Favourite Personal Recipes

Being a college or university student often requires you to get creative with food, eat on a budget, experiment with recipes, and for some, learn how to cook to begin with. I've never taken much of an interest in cooking, nor would I say I'm very good at it. But now that I've completed my third year of university, I can finally say I'm no longer living off of KD and take-out. Over the last few years I've become pretty protective of my food and learned how to appreciate a full kitchen. I no longer take food for granted. I've also learned how to cook a few great meals and, when desperately low on food, how to experiment with what's left to create a surprisingly delicious meal. Here are some of my own personal recipes (yes they're pretty basic and I'm sure you've come across something similar before, but hey, if you had me cook for you a few years ago, you'd agree that I have a right to be proud now) and how these recipes came to be.

1) Good Ol' Mac N' Cheese

Ingredients:

- Elbow pasta (I've also done it with shell pasta and penne)
- 1 can of Campbell's tomato soup
- Old cheddar cheese
- Optional: salt and pepper or hot sauce

Instructions:

- Boil desired amount of pasta according to instructions on package (bring water to boil in pot, add pasta and splash of olive oil to avoid sticking)
- In separate pot pour in 1 can (depending on amount of pasta and desired amount of sauce) of tomato soup and heat until it starts to bubble. Turn down heat slightly and start adding grated or chopped pieces of cheddar cheese. Keep stirring until the cheese melts. Add cheese until the colour turns orange, or until desired flavour. You should taste the balance between the tomato soup and cheese, and if the cheese starts sticking to your gums from the sauce, you've probably put too much in.
- Add salt and/or pepper and/or hot sauce to the tomato soup and cheese sauce.
- Once sauce is ready and pasta is ready, drain pasta and pour sauce into pot with pasta, stirring until the pasta is completely covered.

Voila! It's pretty basic, but I prefer this sauce over the other ones I've had. Feel free to add meat or vegetables of your choice! Add a side salad and you're set!

I came up with this one when I had an overwhelming craving for mac and cheese, but lacked the ingredients to make the more elaborate cheese sauce typically used.

2) Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

- Skinless, boneless chicken breast
- Frozen spinach
- Cheese of choice (ricotta, parmesian, feta, goat cheese, etc.)
- Seasonings of choice

Instructions:

- Set raw chicken breast on cutting board and beat until flattened out
- Flip chicken breast over and place desired filling down the centre. We used cooked spinach and cheese. You can simply buy the pre-cooked packages of frozen spinach and thaw it, or buy fresh and boil it yourself. Top the spinach with desired cheese(s)(or vice versa). We simply used a pre-grated package of a variety of white cheeses. Sprinkle with desired seasonings. Then roll the chicken up and secure each end with tooth-picks so that the filling is in the centre and the chicken doesn't come apart.
- Oil bottom of an oven dish and place in rolled chicken.
- Bake in oven at 375 until cooked (cut into chicken and it should be all white)
*Optional: We also made a homemade sauce to top the chicken with. You can make your own sauce by cutting up tomatoes, onions, garlic, and other vegetables or spices you like and cooking them together in a pan, or buy a pre-made sauce and heat it in a pan. Either pour the sauce over the chicken before baking it, or after the chicken is done. We also topped ours off with more cheese.






This one was a Reading Week recipe when I had my mom's big kitchen all to myself.


3) Rice It Up! (Okay, I think I stole that saying, but I don't know if this meal would be classified as a casserole, salad, or something else, so you decide!)

Ingredients:

- Brown rice
- 1 can of NuPak Bean Salad Mix
- Soleil mixed frozen vegetables (peas, carrots, whole kernel corn, green beans, and lima beans)
- Butter
- Soya Sauce

Instructions:

- Following instructions on bag of rice, bring 2 cups of water to a boil and slowly add 1 cup of rice. Stir several times with fork, lower heat, and let simmer for 55 minutes or until desired tenderness (note: I had to add extra water before the 55 minutes was up, but I simply poured another half cup in and stirred the rice and let it simmer a bit longer).
- In another pot bring 1-2 cups of water to a boil, pour in desired amount of frozen vegetables (with enough water to just cover them) and let it come to a second boil, then turn down heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- If need be, drain remaining water from rice and stir in a spoonful of butter.
- Drain vegetables and pour them into the pot of rice.
- Open can of mixed beans and pour entire can into pot with rice and vegetables. Mix well.
- Pour in desired amount of soya sauce and stir. Add any desired seasonings.




I created this today. I'm about to move out for the summer and have virtually no food left, but the bare minimum to survive on. I found the rice hiding in the back of the cupboard and the vegetables and can of beans my roommate left behind. I decided to see what I could do with what I had left and it turned out great! A delicious vegetarian meal that leaves you with significant leftovers and a full tummy! Feel free to add ground beef or chicken, switch up your sauces, use it as a side or your entire meal!

A Taste of Mongolia in Canada

As we hop the bus in spontaneity, Kelsey and I chatter excitedly about the restaurant, describing to Ayesha all of the details we can remember. Kelsey is my long-time best friend and university roommate, and we are taking our new friend Ayesha to one of our favourite restaurants in Ottawa: The Mongolian Hot Pot.
We arrive at 4:30pm, just as the place is opening for dinner service. I can already smell the delicious array of foods from outside as each scent drifts through the doorway. We enter to the greeting of two Mongolian* men who's first question is "have you been here before?" Kelsey and I nod, explaining that we have, but Ayesha hasn't. He explains that we can share one large pot of broth, or take one small pot each. We decide to share, choosing the pot that's divided in half by a metal slab, allowing us to enjoy both the chicken and spicy broths.
The room is spacious and bright, basked in natural light from two walls of large square windows. Tables with chairs fill the centres of the room while booths line the walls. The largest booths jut out from the windowed walls, offering guests a view of the street, and curious passers-by a view of the customer's plates. Authentic decor and photos of Mongolia adorn the walls and Mongolian pop music is being projected from invisible speakers.
We are seated at a booth for four, with one large element built elegantly into the table on which our pot of broth is placed. Touch sensory technology allows me to adjust the temperature of the element in order to bring the broth to a boil. Two plates of raw, shaved lamb meat are brought to our table, and we are told to help ourselves to the array of foods available near the front of the restaurant - buffet-style. Even on my fourth visit, I am fascinated by the choice of foods: spinach noodles, egg noodles, rice noodles, mushrooms, potato slices, lettuce, broccoli, baby corn, water chestnuts, bamboo, chicken, beef, tripe, chicken heart, squid, octopus, regular eggs, quail eggs, tofu and a variety of other foods that I purposely fail to file in my memory out of pure wrinkle-my-nose-in-disgust disinterest. Yet, I am silently disappointed in my own lack of a sense of adventure. I pile my plate with the usual safe choices: noodles, broccoli, baby corn, potatoes, and chicken, only braving bamboo slices as my never-before-tried food. I fill my bowl with soy sauce and peanut paste, while Ayesha and Kelsey eagerly dive in to an array of slimy, wiggly seafood and unidentifiable vegetables. We carry our plates piled high with food back to our table, and dump everything edible into the boiling, steaming broth. I avoid the spicy side, recalling my ignorant eagerness to indulge in spice during my last visit, resulting in a temporary loss of taste and enough sweat to make me look like I just came in from the record hottest day of summer.
As our food cooked together, soaking up the flavour of the broth, more customers arrived. There were a few guests who looked as confused as we did on our first visit, never having experienced a restaurant quite like this before, but most were obvious regulars, conversing in Mongolian with the waiters and piling their plates with mountains of authentic foods that I would never think twice about trying. I realize this will have to change if I ever want to become a real travel writer.
We stuff our faces until the pot is virtually empty and our stomachs are painfully full, reminding each other that they charge you for any left-overs (smart move). In spite of our level of fullness, we make sure to try a few different desserts, including mini square pieces of light, dry cake, a round, plain pastry that tastes like a healthier version of a Tim Horton's glazed doughnut, and a bowl of sliced peaches.
By the time we're ready to leave, one of my favourite Hot Pot moments has arrived: the windows have all fogged up from the steam of everyone's broth pots, creating a distinct division from the outside world. I no longer feel like a part of Canada's capital city, but perhaps a guest at an upscale restaurant in Mongolia that serves tourists' hunger for authenticity (and good food of course!).
I am thus disappointed to push open the double glass doors and step out into the busy streets of Ottawa again, but for only a $20 bill, the experience is once again worth it.

©Nicole, March/2010

*This is an assumption based on their Northern Asian appearance.

Would You Like a Pot of Tea?

I am instantly overwhelmed by the colours and aromas as I enter the shop, hundreds of flavours of tea engulfing me with their scents. To my right is a small collection of lime green chairs and glass tables arranged in front of the large window that exposes the market to customers relaxing inside. Behind them starts the shelving unit bearing all things tea: tea pots, matching teacup sets, boxes and boxes of various flavours of tea... To my left is a comfortable bench surrounded by more black shelving units filled with tea-related accessories. After taking in my surroundings in pleasant surprise, I follow my best friend to the table closest to us. We discard our winter mitts and hats, and Kelsey heads towards the front of the shop, waving me along. We read the menu written artistically in colourful chalk, and choose the 'pot for two, plus two scones' for about $8.00 plus tax. Behind us is a wall of large glass jars, each filled with different flavoured tea leaves, and all artistically labelled with intriguing names, such as "Angel's Dream", "Arctic Fire", "Jade in the Cloud", "Amsterdam Licorice", and "Kama Sutra Chai". As we stare at them in awe (both adamant tea lovers), an openly friendly server comes over to offer assistance. We admit we have no idea where to begin even narrowing it down, but finally he gets us to limit our choices to dessert flavours. What feels like an hour of indecisiveness later, he returns, laughing politely as we still haven't made our choice. I realize this is only the first of many visits as I mentally note numerous must-try flavours. The server encourages us to pick up the jars, open the lids, and smell any one we want, and finally we narrow it down to three: "Turtle Chocolate", "White Chocolate Mousse", and "Coconut Chai". He decides to take the three with him and surprise us with one, which he says we'll have to guess the flavour of when we finish. We sit down, chattering excitedly about our new discovery - one of Ottawa's many 'hidden' treasures. I tell Kelsey how our discovery is bittersweet, as it makes me wonder what other unique aspects of the city I've been missing out on. We both agree that bringing our mothers - also tea fanatics - here is a must. Suddenly I find myself leaning eagerly over a pot of steaming tea, kept hot over a tea-light candle, and a warm, fresh, fruit-filled scone complimented with a side of butter, jam, and whipped-cream. I bust out my digital camera to snap a few shots of the untainted display of deliciousness before filling my mug and slathering my scone in jelly. I finish my scone long before Kelsey, forgetting to savour every bite. We smell the tea, examine the contents of the pot, allow the flavour to linger on our tongues, and decide it must be chocolate, but which one? Turtle or Mousse? When the server collects our plates, we guess Turtle with confidence, to the disappointing response of his shaking head: "no." We're verbally surprised at our mistake, but quickly guess again: "White Chocolate Mousse?" He smiles, "yes!" I tell Kelsey we should have know since he'd previously recommended it as his personal favourite. We leave the "Tea Store" only $5.00 short each, but elated beyond the worth of a five dollar bill.
I stroll through the market wondering what flavour I'll choose next.

© Nicole, Feb. 2010

http://www.teastore.ca/