<p>Any tasty dishes that a busy college student could make? Inexpensive ingredients are a plus. My roommate cooks, and I don't want him cooking the food for us all the time. Btw, we have a kitchen, so access to kitchen equipment is not a problem. He's thinking of cooking Italian food this weekend, but I want to surprise him with my own dish. It better be good, I swear!</p>
<p>stuff on the grill is pretty simple and tasty</p>
<p>ok i am kinda tired but here goes</p>
<p>I would suggest you make a simple italian classic, it isn't hard to make and will most likely impress</p>
<p>you will have to get panchetta though - semi hard to find but I'd say you have a 40-65 percent chance of finding it at a grocery store, ask in the deli section or maybe the butcher - bacon does work as a substitute but it does not taste quite as good :(</p>
<p>all the other ingredients are common</p>
<p>I like to add some of the pasta water to the egg mixture before integrating it - you have to make sure that the egg doesn't start to form lumps so once you add it keep stirring while you mix it with the pasta</p>
<p>don't be afraid to make this, it isn't hard at all</p>
<p>oh and I like to sub linguine instead of spaghetti, get whatever pasta you want</p>
<p>cut all the units in half if you only want 2 servings - the pancetta is kinda pricey for what it is but all the otehr ingredients are dirt cheap so it evens out I guess</p>
<p>if you have to ask if it's healthy or not then...well....:)</p>
<p>Check out <a href="http://www.myrecipes.com%5B/url%5D">www.myrecipes.com</a> or <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com%5B/url%5D">www.recipezaar.com</a>.</p>
<p>They have really great search engines where you can literally search by any number of qualifications and find what you want.</p>
<p>Microwave your pasta, add sauce, and enjoy. You can add some meatballs, chicken breast strips, or whatever you may enjoy. Personally, I like tomato sauce + breaded chicken or alfredo sauce + grilled chicken strips.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.allrecipes.com%5B/url%5D">www.allrecipes.com</a></p>
<p>Their thousands of free recipes are organized into chicken, cookies, ethnic-style foods (Italian, Mexican etc), desserts, breads etc categories. You can also simply do searches based on the ingredients you have on hand at the time and it will aggregate recipes that tailor to your particular ingredients. The recipes are rated so you can find out which ones are the most popular and well-regarded. Most of the recipes I've seen are not difficult to make either. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>hey, good suggestions. thanks. I'm gonna be making Ricotta Gnocchi!</p>
<p>A good (and inexpensive) side dish:</p>
<p>ingredients (per serving):<br>
1-1 1/2 potatoes, diced
3 tablespoons of cooked and diced bacon or real bacon bits
2 tablespoons of diced red onion
garlic powder
minced onion
ground black pepper
red pepper flakes (optional)
grated cheese
oil
butter or margarine</p>
<ol>
<li> Pre-heat oven to 400 F</li>
<li> Boil the potatoes for 5 minutes</li>
<li> Line a baking sheet heavy duty aluminum foil</li>
<li> Grease the foil with the oil (I like olive oil, but other cooking oil works just fine. Do not use butter, as it will burn.)</li>
<li> Drain your potatoes and spread them out on the baking sheet</li>
<li> Distribute the bacon, onion, and spices evenly over the baking sheet</li>
<li> Put thin slices of butter on top of the potatoes</li>
<li> Cook until the potato pieces are crispy (about 15-20 minutes)<br></li>
</ol>
<p>NOTE: All ovens are different, and dorm oven thermostats are notoriously out of calibration--if not broken all together, so keep an eye on your stuff all the time.</p>
<ol>
<li> When the potatoes look ready, sprinkle the cheese on top and return to oven to melt (about 1-2 minutes).</li>
</ol>
<p>Use a pancake flipper to remove from the pan. Throw the aluminum foil away when cool, and wash the pan (easy clean up if you use the foil).</p>