The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread

[West]

Not sure how healthy these are, but I love the ones I get and they are microwavable:

http://www.ovenpoppers.com/

[jbrent33]

I make a pasta salad that is pretty easy and lasts for several days

1 bag of the tri-color rotini
1 large bag frozen mixed veggies (peas, carrots, corn, etc)
1/2 onion chopped
1 large bottle of italian salad dressing (the creamy variety is good if you are not worried about fat otherwise stick to the zesty oil and vinegar type.

1. Boil pasta
2. Dump everything else in a large bowl with cooked pasta
3. Eat

[danzasmack]

Anyway I've mentioned it as a form of accountability on 2+2 in several places but I'm dieting/exercising a lot with "great success!" (lost a little over 20 lbs. this month and put on muscle)

I go low calorie on almost everything but going from heavy to skinny is rough because i love to eat. This is what I'm making for dinner tonight:

1 slice of soy bread from super market (has protein and such). Put a bunch of turkey on there, some sauerkraut, a dash of Frank's Hot Sauce and 2 slices of kraft fat free plastic, i mean cheese. throw it in the toaster oven (i will use over on "broil") until the cheese melts a bit, next to the other piece of toast. Throw some mustard on there and you are good to go.

This is a really good sandwich and the kraut and hot sauce has 0 calories. The mustard has a tiny bit and the bogus cheese has about 30 a slice but next to no carbs and a good amount of protein. It tastes really good.

[chisness]

My fave is rice from rice cooker and rotis. chicken already cooked from supermarket. Basically no cooking involved, though adding a baked potato would be nice. The meal totals $2-$4 depending on if you eat 1/4 or 1/2 the chicken.

[***]

I might have missed it, but I don't think so. This was a staple for me when I was living in London and my employer wasn't giving me a paycheque. It is cheap and very very easy.

This recipe serves two, and is totally approximate:
225g Linguine (1/2 lb)
75 mL Olive oil (3 tbsp)
1 clove Garlic, chopped finely
Red chili flakse to taste (I'm guessing like 5g or 1/2 tsp)
salt and pepper
Optional: parmesan cheese. Use the hard stuff that you grate, not the gross Kraft powder.

Put the water on to boil and salt it. you should be able to taste the salt in the water, but it shouldn't be overpowering. Use a lot of water to boil pasta, more than you think you might need.

While the water is boiling put the olive oil and garlic in a sauce pan over very low heat. You want to infuse the oil with the garlic and chili flavour without breaking down the flavour of the delicate olive oil.

A couple minutes before the pasta is ready remove the garlic from the oil. Use a strainer, spoon, or whatever. If you miss one piece it's no big deal, but the garlic can take on a bitter flavour so you'd like it out of there. Add the chili flakes to the oil now.

After straining the pasta (cook it al dente, meaning slightly chewy), return it to its cooking pot (off the heat). Season with salt and pepper, and add the oil, stirring to coat.

Add the cheese now if you are using it.

Enjoy!

[NorCalJosh]

my biggest issue while cooking as a bachelor isnt the food. i can always whip up something tasty from whatever i have lying around. the problem is i create the largest mess known to man kind every time i set foot in the kitchen. does anyone have any tips on dish saving cooking technique?

[***]

[ QUOTE ]
does anyone have any tips on dish saving cooking technique?

[/ QUOTE ]
Eat out of the pot.

Seriously though, clean as you go. If you divide your cooking into micro tasks and clean up after each of them, you'll be amazed at how much smoother your cooking and cleanup both go.

[Aloysius]

NorCalJosh - not sure on dish saving (I do try to be as efficient as possible with cutting boards, pots, pans etc.) - biggest thing for me has been to employ a "clean-as-you-cook" approach.

So for prep if I'm chopping up vegetables / meat, always tossing stuff into garbage disposal or trash bin as I'm chopping. Also as stuff is cooking I make a point to clean up anything I can in the kitchen, rinsing stuff out whatever.

Think this might be fairly standard, but the resulting clean-up at the end is not nearly as painful.

-Al

[guids]

Ya, tinfoil. If you look at my post, like every single thing up there, requires little to no cleanup, other than maybe one dish, and a piece of tupperware. that was my main problem too, the [censored] cleanup.

[Aloysius]

[ QUOTE ]
Ya, tinfoil. If you look at my post, like every single thing up there, requires little to no cleanup, other than maybe one dish, and a piece of tupperware. that was my main problem too, the [censored] cleanup.

[/ QUOTE ]

Buddy of mine just uses disposable plates - another (though overtime obviously costly) option.

-Al