MDF(smash)

What advice do you have for young (college-age) people looking to expand their culinary skills but are both apprehensive to try “risky”/challenging dishes and are strapped for cash?

wcfoodies:

Think of yourself as a minimalist rather than a broke student. Make your pantry your arsenal: stock it with the things you love best: maybe the only seasoning you like is salt and pepper; maybe you hate dried herbs but love ground spices. Grab a few different types of dried pastas, at least one variety of dried beans, and your favorite kind of rice. Spend an extra buck or two for high-quality canned tomatoes (I recommend either Muir Glen Organic or tomatoes actually from Italy). Ditto for a small hunk of good butter (don’t buy those 4-packs of quarter pound sticks - unless you’re a baker, the butter will go stale before you can use it all) and a wedge of your favorite cheese. Buy a bottle or jar of olive oil from a store that lets you taste the oil first, and don’t buy the most expensive oil or the biggest bottle.

Now your pantry’s stocked and you can make a completely satisfying meal just from there - olive oil + tomatoes + salt + time = marinara sauce; reconstitute your beans, simmer them in salted water, season them, and top with your marinara or toss with rice. With beans, rice, pasta, and good canned tomatoes, you’ve got at least half a week’s worth of meals taken care of.

From there, hit up your farmer’s market. Get onions, garlic, potatoes, eggs. Get your favorite fruits and vegetables. Wash and slice your vegetables, toss them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and lay them flat on baking sheets. Roast your veggies in big batches, then store them in the fridge. They’re even more delicious cold the next day, tossed with a little extra olive oil and some fresh parsley - or even just straight out of the container. Splurge on a good loaf of bread or even a foccacia and make yourself a cold vegetable sandwich: press the veggies down into the bread, drizzle with olive oil and maybe some balsamic, and smash the sandwich together. Top the veggies with cheese if you want, but you’ll see it isn’t necessary. Cut your potatoes into large cubes, toss in a pot with twice as much salt as seems right, and cover by an inch with water. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the potatoes are just fork-tender. Store them in the fridge and eat them either tossed with olive oil and mustard, or smash them down a little in hot oil in a skillet until brown and crispy on the outside and top with a fried egg.

Freeze your vegetable trimmings - carrot peels and tops, onion and garlic skins, zucchini ends, old herbs - until you have a good amount. Toss in a pot, cover by an inch or so with water, bring to a boil, and then simmer 15-30 minutes for homemade vegetable stock. Freeze the stock and whenever you need it - say, to make a more flavorful soup with your beans - toss a big veggie broth ice cube in a pot and slowly melt it before adding your reconstituted beans.

If you’re a meat eater, think of meat as more of a seasoning than a main ingredient: chop a slice or two of bacon, fry in oil, and add the bacon to a soup of white beans and escarole. Ditto chorizo with black beans and potato, or chickpeas and kale. Buy quality meat in small quantities and you’ll find the taste to be richer and more satisfying than a big hunk of crap meat.

And, perhaps, above all - save your stale bread either for bread crumbs (blender, then freeze) or for French toast.

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Rebecca is such a pro. Good advice for anyone looking to eat a bit cleaner.