Conquer the College Kitchen

Eating healthy is far too often a battle while cooking for oneself at college, so I’ve found that the more recipes I gather that provide a healthy balance for a meal, the better. One easy item to modify is the potato.  They’re cheap and can be bought in bulk.  They’re perfect to pair with chicken or a sandwich, and if prepared the right way, they can offer a healthy alternative to other types of sides.  Follow the directions below for a gourmet twist on the classic french fry!

You’ll need:

• Potatoes (I prefer red skinned), for three people we use four potatoes
• Italian dressing
• Oregano(dried is fine and works well in this case), about one and half teaspoons
• Garlic powder, about one teaspoon
• Cayenne pepper, about half a teaspoon (more or less depending on how spicy you want them)
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• Parsley, about a teaspoon (again, dried works well here)
• olive oil

Directions:

1. After washing them thoroughly, slice up your potatoes into long strips, the way you would see french fries sliced.  I like to keep the skin on, but you don’t have to.
2. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil in a sauce pan over medium-high heat
3. Add all the potatoes to the sauce pan
4. Drizzle Italian dressing over the potatoes.  Don’t be too concerned with trying to cover every inch of each strip- they will get mixed in.
5. Add your other ingredients (oregano, parsley, salt and pepper, parsley, cayenne pepper, garlic powder) spreading them evenly over the potatoes
6. Stir the potatoes and spread out all the ingredients with a spatula
7. Keep sauteing them for about five-ten minutes, or until they are semi-tender.  While you’re stirring, pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees
8. Take the potatoes off the heat and let them sit for a few seconds before transferring them to a baking sheet.
9. Spread the strips out and make sure none are on top of each other so every piece cooks
10. Throw them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until they’re crispy and hardened on the outside
11. When you take them out, sprinkle some pepper and a little more parsley over them for taste and decoration

(See the photos below for what the phases of the process should look like)

They might need a few minutes to cool down, but after that you’re free to dig in!  Enjoy them with chicken and salad, or a sandwich or a healthy, balanced meal.

Slice up the potatoes:

Throw them in a pan and add your ingredients:

Saute for about 5-10 minutes:

When they’re pretty tender, take them off heat and put on a baking sheet:

Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until hardened, and ta-da, you’ve got some gourmet (healthy) fries!