You have your adult job now, you have your apartment and you went out and bought all your kitchen supplies. That’s great, now you can begin cooking for yourself! Oh wait, you might not know how…
I went through a similar point in my life where I only knew how to make a banana milkshake, eggs, and toast. Because there’s a lot to write here, I will split this up to two posts.
Here’s part 1 of a list of foods I think everyone in their 20s should know how to make in order to survive:
BOILING PASTA (SPECIFICALLY SPAGHETTI)
Like I’ve mentioned before, pasta is cheap and thus pasta will make you very happy. Especially during these troubling times where you may not have a lot of money. Stock up on this cheap classic and let’s get started. I personally really like angel hair pasta but you do you.
Step 1
Start off by boiling water in a pot or a sauce pan, depending on how much you plan on making. The more water in the pot, the longer it will take to boil.
Step 2
Once the water is boiling, put in about a small handful of pasta. Again, this will depend on how many people you’re feeding. Big handful if you’re feeding a few people, small handful if it’s just you and another person. You’ll eventually get the hang of how much is too much.
Also make sure to add a bit of salt to give your pasta some flavor. I use about a tablespoon or so when I use my big pot and a add a lot of pastas. If you’re using a small saucepan and a tiny bit of pasta, I might recommend 1 or 2 teaspoons. I don’t even measure anymore, I just guess and hope it wasn’t too much. I like to live life dangerously.
Step 3
Let it boil a few minutes. Usually 8 minutes or so? Use a slotted spoon or fork and bring a few up to the surface. There’s tons of “tips” on how to find out when the pasta is done like throwing it on the wall and seeing if it sticks. Just eat it. It’s less messy that way.
If it tastes bad and is crunchy, it needs more time. Maybe 4 or 5 more minutes. If it tastes fine, take it out of the water. It’s that easy!
Step 4
Drain the pasta using a colander or dump the water out in the sink. The steam might hurt you if you’re not careful so play it safe.
DON’T WASH THE PASTA WITH WATER TO COOL IT FASTER. DOING THIS REMOVES THE STARCH WHICH HELPS IT HOLD AND ABSORB WHATEVER SAUCE YOU USED.
Step 5
Serve with ground beef sauce or sprinkle on some herbs like thyme, parsley, oregano, or an Italian spice blend along with a little bit of butter or oil. Can’t go wrong with pairing it with some chicken either.
BOILING POTATOES
Another incredibly easy thing to do that I spent years avoiding for some unknown reason. I actually just recently made potatoes for the first time 2 months ago.
Step 1
Wash the potatoes in order to get rid of any dirt they may have. They grew from the ground so of course they may have a bit of dirt on them. No biggie
Depending on what you want to make, this is the perfect time to peel them. Use a peeler or a knife to get the skin off. Don’t cut yourself please.
Step 2
Start boiling water. I’d recommend a fairly large pot in order to hold all the potatoes. Fill it maybe halfway or until all the potatoes can be fully submerged. Add some salt if you want but I don’t think it does all that much. Maybe 1 tablespoon or so if you’re feeling edgy.
Step 3
Cook until tender. I can’t tell you how long to do this for because I don’t even know. I think when I made them it was about 15 minutes. A trick I use is I stab one with a fork and pick it up out of the water.
If it easily slides down with just a tiny bit of friction holding onto the fork, it’s done! If it stays there and doesn’t move, leave it another 5 or 7 minutes and check again with another potato.
Step 4
Once they’re done, go ahead and drain them and allow them to cool a bit. After they cool, you can do whatever you want! Cut them into smaller cubes and season with some salt and pepper if you want to simply enjoy the flavor of the potatoes.
You can even add cheese, sour cream, and bacon to make a loaded mashed potato. Or you can add it to tacos if you want. Pan fry them to get them nice and crispy, serve with scrambled eggs and a little bit of cheese and you’ve got yourself the fillings for a delicious breakfast taco.
BROWNING GROUND BEEF
This one is, again, incredibly easy. Just make sure you have all the seasoning you want to use and, some onion all cut up (half on onion sounds good), oil, and maybe some garlic (1 tablespoon sounds about right). That’s pretty much what you always want to have on hand when cooking ground beef in order for it to not taste so bland.
You’ll want to make sure the majority of the onions are cut evenly so some aren’t raw while the others aren’t burnt. If you couldn’t do that, no worries, just make sure to use your spatula often and move everything around to prevent any burns.
Step 1
Turn the stove on to medium heat and wait for the pan to get fairly warm. Now pour some oil on the pan. Not a ton where everything will be swimming in oil but also not too little either. I’m going to guess and say maybe 1 tablespoon?
Step 2
Once the oil gets very liquidy, it should be warm enough for you to drop the chopped onions; listen to that sizzle..
Once you see the onions becoming a bit more translucent or opaque (can see slightly through them), add the garlic. The reason why you want to add the garlic AFTER the onions have cooked a bit is because garlic burns pretty easily. We want to cook the garlic just enough where it becomes fragrant and the oils are released. There’s nothing worse than tasting burnt garlic.
Step 3
Now it’s time to start cooking the ground beef. It usually comes in packages of 1lb so that’s what I’m assuming you’ll be using.
Once you dropped the ground beef, try and break it up with your spatula and stir it. Continue breaking it up and moving it around so it cooks evenly. Like magic, it’ll start looking more anymore like the ground beef you know and probably love.
Keep cooking until there is only just a tiny tiny bit of pieces that are pink, or still a little bit raw.
Step 4
Now’s the time where we start adding spices. Much like the garlic, we don’t want to burn these fragrant spices so we want to put them in fairly close the end.
You can be as creative as you want with these spices, they are totally up to you. If you want to add the ground beef to a jar of tomato sauce, go for it and add some thyme, parsley, oregano, etc. If you want to make some ground beef tacos with potato, throw on some cumin, salt, pepper, chili powder, etc.
if you’re too scared to mess with so many blend of spices, go for those tried and true spice mixes they sell by the pack. They’re less than $1 and they’re made to go on 1lb batches of ground beef.
Mix the spices, even if it’s just salt, thoroughly and ensure it is completely cooked. Taste it and see if you like it. If it tastes too bland, add a bit more salt, or pepper, or thyme, or basil, or parsley, or cumin, or garlic powder, or chili powder… You’re in control here.
Also, don’t forget to drain the grease. I’d recommend draining it onto a bowl with a paper towel on it and waiting for it to cool completely before throwing it away in the trash. Refrain from pouring it down the drain because when it cools, the grease becomes a solid and thus clogs the pipes.
BASIC BLANCHED VEGETABLES
Just because you’re out on your own doesn’t mean you get to stop eating your vegetables. And now you can’t use the excuse of “I don’t know how”. Blanching your veggies is a super easy and fast way to having some crunchy veggies with dinner.
Step 1
Start by boiling water in a pot similar to the potatoes
Step 2
Salt the water. Again, I’d probably use about 1 tablespoon
Step 3
Put a couple of handfuls of veggies in the water for about 1 – 3 minutes depending on the thickness of the vegetables. Super skinny ones – probably 1 minute or just a little longer. Thicker vegetables could probably be left for 3.
Just like the pasta, taste it real quick to make sure they are ready to come out of the water.
Step 4
Remove veggies using a colander or a slotted spoon and immediately transfer them to a bowl with ice cold water.
This is done to “shock” the vegetables and prevent them from cooking any longer and ensure they look vibrant and bright.
RICE (STOVETOP)
Rice cooked on the stovetop has been my arch nemesis for about 2 years now and I finally figured it out. All it took was reading the directions in the box it came in…Yes, you heard right. The directions were there all along and I screwed up rice. For 2 years 😅
Turns out rice isn’t that difficult if you simply read the directions.
Step 1
Rice has a ratio of how much rice to water. This ratio for my favorite rice, jasmine rice, is 1 cup of rice to 1.5 cups of water. So that’s what where going to start.
Boil a little over 1.5 cups of water in case some evaporates while it reaches a boil. You can salt the water if you want but I can’t taste a difference.
For more depth of flavor, I would highly recommend using vegetable, chicken, or beef stock instead of water. It changes the flavor of the normally bland rice into something delicious and different.
Step 2
Once the water is boiling, drop in the 1 cup of rice and reduce the heat to the lowest setting without turning the stove off. Rice will be done when all the liquid has been absorbed/evaporated.
Close the lid and leave it alone for about 10 minutes,
Step 3
Check up on it after about 10 minutes and give it a stir. It should be ready within the next 5 or so minutes. Keep a close eye on it and stir occasionally so the bottom doesn’t burn. Once the rice is no longer visibly moist and wet, yet should be done. Taste it to double-check.
If it’s still a little hard, add a bit more water or stock and stir it. Just a tiny bit more. Serve with just about anything you’d like rice with!
There you go, guys! Now you can at least start off a meal or two without having to google the recipe over and over, which I’m guilty of. Try these out and let me know if you had any trouble following along or have any questions.
Stay tuned for part 2
