some quick, practical tips for cooking in college
stock up on frozen fruits—you can eat them straight out of the freezer as a treat (berries are great for this), or thawed (try pineapple, mango, and anything else that doesn’t get too mushy).
chop up and freeze garlic, ginger, scallions, and chilis for handy flavor. (yes, the freezer is definitely a trend here)
meal prep is great but eating the same meal over and over can get boring. make meal components that you can mix and match, or add novelty with dressings, sauces, toppings, and drinks to go with your meals.
find some pickles/fermented foods that you like and always have some in your fridge—they’re flavorful and they last! i.e. kimchi, gochujang, miso, sandwich pickles, sauerkraut, and (my favorite) salted kohlrabi.
get free food at campus events and campus food pantry pop-ups. at Stanford, I always got tons of food from on-calls in my residence, Mirrielees.
a list of my favorite produce, that keeps well and is easy to prepare:
zucchini (fridge)
citrus (bag in the fridge)
grape tomatoes (fridge, these last longer than regular or cherry tomatoes)
sweet potato (cool place at room temp)
radish (bag in the fridge)
blueberries (in their container in the fridge)
collards (fridge)
green seedless grapes (in their container in the fridge, these last longer than red grapes and seeded grapes)
learn to crisp greens and keep herbs fresh in water.
use convenience and canned food as a base and add other components for nutrition + flavor: i.e. to instant ramen, add an egg, kimchi, frozen scallions, and frozen or fresh spinach. in an instant or frozen mac and cheese, try adding sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan, bacon, and black pepper!
if your college town has a farmer’s market, check it out! develop relationships with vendors there for intel on what’s in season + sweet deals! making the 15 min walk to the California Avenue farmer’s market from my apartment every Sunday and spending the afternoon there was the highlights of my week while I was in school :)
