Simple Recipes in No Time!
by: Mai Eldib and Eve Solomon

Coming to college or reaching the age where you can start taking care of
yourself manages to teach you a lot of things. First and foremost domestic
responsibilities that might have seemed to be only for your bedroom, but
now when you are alone venturing into the kitchen seem like a scary
ordeal. But we have some inexpensive and easy recipes to follow for dinner
or lunch.
Vegetable Soup: Whether it’s cold outside or
you just want to have something before
your main meal. Soup is a great healthy and
fulfilling dish.
Ingredients:

1 can of chicken stock
1 cup of water
3 carrots diced into small cubes
1 large potato cut into small cubes
2 zucchinis diced into small cubes
½ cup of peas
Salt and pepper depending on your taste
Add some chives
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
Mix the chicken stock and water into a large pot. Put in the olive oil. Add
the vegetables into the soup. After 15 minutes add the chives and some
small and pepper depending on your taste. Allow the soup to boil for 30
minutes or until all the vegetables are cooked.

Shrimp, Avocado, Tomato Salad: This salad is tasty because it’s ingredients
make it so - it doesn’t need heavy dressing to taste great.

Ingredients:

2 ripe but still firm avocados
2 tomatoes
about 12 pieces pre-cooked shrimp
(this can be found in the fish section
of your super market)
1 lemon
salt and pepper

Chop the avocados and tomatoes into bite-sized chunks. Combine them in
a bowl with the whole shrimp, and squeeze lemon over them. Flavor with
salt and pepper and toss gently.

Pasta Primavera: Everybody loves a bowl of pasta. With this recipe, you
can use your imagination, substituting any of your favorite vegetables.
Ingredients:

½ box linguine
2 tablespoons oil
1 head of broccoli, chopped
3 sun dried tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
½ bag of pre-washed spinach
1 garlic cove, chopped
1 teaspoon Italian Spices
parmegiano reggiano cheese

Start out by filling a large pot with water, set it on the stove to boil. Make
sure you put some salt in it. Next, put a pan on the stove over medium
heat. Pour in 2 tablespoons of oil, and add the chopped garlic. After about a
minute, add the chopped sun dried tomatoes, the broccoli, the spinach,
and the Italian spices. Pour half a cup of water slowly into the pan, and
cover. This way, the broccoli and the spinach will steam. While the veggies
steam, the water should have boiled. Add the pasta and cook for as long as
indicated on the package. Check that all of the water has steamed off of the
veggies and that they are soft. Drain the pasta when it is ready, and add it
to the pan with the veggies. Mix well, pour into a serving bowl, and serve
with grated parmesan cheese on top.

Sour Dough Pizza: This is a fun recipe for a party or a night with your
family. It’s great because it’s hands-on and everyone get to participate.
Ingredients:

1 long sour-dough baguette
pizza sauce
fresh mozzarella cheese
fresh basil
toppings of your choice: pepperoni, anchovies, veggies

Pre-heat the oven to 350˚F. Slice the baguette in half the long way, and
then cut it into four-inch sections. Grate the mozzarella cheese into a
bowl. The fun of this recipe is that everyone can decorate their own pizzas,
and choose the toppings they want. For a ‘Margherita Pizza’, cover the
sourdough slice with the pizza sauce, then sprinkle the mozzarella over it.
Add a couple of fresh basil leaves. Place straight on the oven rack and cook
until the cheese is melted completely. Remove the pizza and eat it right
away!

1-2-3-4 Cake: It’s the easiest recipe in the world. I don’t think one chef in
particular penned; my mom taught to me a while ago and it’s so simple and
easy to remember. Also if you want to pour the batter in a cup cake tray
instead of a cake pan – you could easily do that. And you can always half
the amount if you want less batter!!!
Ingredients:

1 cup of butter
2 cups of sugar
3 cups of self-rising flour
4 eggs
1 cup of milk
1 packet of baking powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Oven must be pre-heated to 350 degrees

Grease your cake pan or cup cake tray. Using a mixer or a whisk, whisk the
butter until it is smooth. Add along the sugar next. All 2 cups and then mix
well. Try as much as possible for the grains of sugar to smooth into the
butter. Add the eggs one at a time and beat them well into the batter. And
then slowly add the flour into the mixture. Whenever it gets too thick add
the milk to smooth out the batter. Finally add the vanilla and baking
powder and beat the mixture until the batter is smooth. Pour the batter
into your pan or the cupcake tray Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done.
Check continuously through your oven window. Cool in pans 5 to 10
minutes. And at last invert the cake onto your serving dish.

p.s you can always add one cup of cocoa to make it chocolaty or garnish it
with a chocolate spread over the cake. It goes very well with a cup of coffee
or tea in the afternoon. Or some fruit preserve for breakfast.