MARY WISNIEWSKI
Assistant Living Editor
Junior Carolyn Simpson lives in a Lovernich apartment. For the first time on her own, she has an oven, refrigerator and stove. But this doesn’t mean she uses them.
“I’m an Easy Mac type of person,” Simpson said. “I have no time to cook. I grab whatever I can and live out of the microwave.”
Simpson is certainly not alone.
Senior Angie Brij lives in an apartment in Calabasas and said she loves to cook but has no time to do so.
“I only make things that are fast like rice and chicken,” Brij said. “Just throw it in the oven. I make things you can’t mess up.”
Many Pepperdine students feel the same way — they have a kitchen but need a chef.
College students are always on the go, whether it’s to class, work, social events or school clubs. They budget time and money, which makes it near-impossible to be a cook on top of everything else.
Students need not abandon all hope of ever making a decent meal just because they aren’t Martha Stewart. There are many ways to step up one’s cooking skills without spending too much time chopping garlic and splicing onions. In the end, it can be a healthier, cheaper and more impressive alternative to eating frozen dinners and restaurant food.
“All cooking is very simple,” said Eleano Camboni, executive chef at Guido’s, an Italian restaurant in Malibu. “Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. Just change the dish.”
Camboni has been a chef at Guido’s for five years. He said the most common cooking error is to mix
antagonistic ingredients.
“When making Spanish food, don’t
use rosemary,” he said. “You can call it creativity, but it doesn’t make sense.”
Camboni said people are always trying to improvise, but most of the time, the dish has already been perfected. His advice for aspiring chefs is to remember the basic ingredients of a recipe. For example, meat takes longer to cook than vegetables. So when cooking a steak, put the meat in the pan first, followed by the rest of the ingredients.
“Always get the best meat that you can,” he said. “You are what you eat. Treat yourself.”
Sometimes when college students decide to make an effort and cook dinner, it can end in disaster. Diane Von, manager of the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline, said people often forget food safety while cooking.
“College students always leave their food out,” Von said. Allowing items like pizza and chicken tenders to sit out can result in bacteria multiplying on the cuisine and cause food poisoning for the consumer.
“Any perishable food must be refrigerated,” she said. Von also offers other tips for preventing illnesses: When using a microwave, always place food in containers, wash hands before eating and make sure food is thoroughly cooked.
If all the basic rules of food safety are followed, there are the lingering worries of what to eat as well as what to buy.
Pepperdine nutritionist Katherine McCune suggests buying organic foods.
“If you can afford (organic produce) and the money is not an issue, then get it,” she said. “It should look fresh.”
McCune said that organic food in some stores is oftentimes not rotated as fast, and so the produce on the shelves can actually be quite worn.
One place she recommends is Trader Joe’s, which she said rotates organic produce at a reasonably fast pace.
If money is an issue, students should focus on certain organic foods that have a measurable advantage over their non-organic counterparts, such as strawberries, McCune said. It’s worth paying extra to avoid the pesticides farmers frequently spray on them.
Kitchen skills benefit not just main meals but snacks as well, she said.
McCune recommends boiled edamame, a bean rich in fiber. Popular in Japanese restaurants, the legume can be bought at most grocery stores, boiled for five minutes and dashed with salt for a quick snack.
“It’s a lot healthier than snacking on chips,” she said.
Alan Cunningham, an employee at Vital Zuma Fresh Harvest Market, agreed with McCune about the benefits of organic food.
“It’s always best to get fresh food,” he said.
In particular, he recommends salads and other greens and said to cook them no longer than two minutes to retain taste and nutrition.
Cunningham said eating in is healthier, as consumers always know what they are eating. It’s also less expensive, he said.
If time is still an issue, don’t worry — quick meals can be healthy, too.
“I have no problem with frozen foods,” said Guido chef Camboni. “Technology is going in that direction as an alternative to going out to eat. You can get exotic frozen food. It has a lot of room for improvement, but we are going in that direction.”
For students who are still confused about eating habits and have questions concerning their diets, Pepperdine offers nutrition services through the Counseling Center. It offers private counseling sessions to help plan out dietary goals, group classes that focus on topics like healthy eating and weight loss, and a dietician available once a week in the weight room for consultations.
Along with various Web sites such as epicurious.com, eatright.org and yumyum.com, students have plenty of resources for recipes and advice on quick, healthy meals.
After all, not every meal has to be macaroni and cheese.meals but snacks as well, she said.
McCune recommends boiled edamame, a bean rich in fiber. Popular in Japanese restaurants, the legume can be bought at most grocery stores, boiled for five minutes and dashed with salt for a quick snack.
“It’s a lot healthier than snacking on chips,” she said.
Alan Cunningham, an employee at Vital Zuma Fresh Harvest Market, agreed with McCune about the benefits of organic food.
“It’s always best to get fresh food,” he said.
In particular, he recommends salads and other greens and said to cook them no longer than two minutes to retain taste and nutrition.
Cunningham said eating in is healthier, as consumers always know what they are eating. It’s also less expensive, he said.
If time is still an issue, don’t worry — quick meals can be healthy, too.
“I have no problem with frozen foods,” said Guido chef Camboni. “Technology is going in that direction as an alternative to going out to eat. You can get exotic frozen food. It has a lot of room for improvement, but we are going in that direction.”
For students who are still confused about eating habits and have questions concerning their diets, Pepperdine offers nutrition services through the Counseling Center. Programs include private counseling sessions to help plan out dietary goals, group classes that focus on topics like healthy eating and weight loss, and a dietician available once a week in the weight room for consultations.
Along with various Web sites such as Epicurious.com, Eatright.org and Yumyum.com, students have plenty of resources for recipes and advice on quick, healthy meals.
After all, not every meal has to be macaroni and cheese.
09-29-2005
