Sick of eating cereal and ramen for lunch and dinner? Want to spend less money eating out and finally start cooking for yourself? Put down that frozen pizza, because HC’s Health Editor, Sammie Levin, is here to share her daily eats so you can get ideas for healthy, satisfying meals that are easy enough for any time-strapped collegiette to make. After you read Collegiette Eats, your taste buds, wallet and waistline will thank you.
Breakfast
Happy May! I'm officially done with finals and home in Boston. So crazy. I'll only be home for a little bit before heading to Costa Rica for a study abroad course and then to Chicago for the rest of the summer, so I really have to savor my parents' immaculate kitchen and well-stocked fridge while I'm here. For breakfast yesterday morning, I had a bowl of banana-flavored Chobani Greek yogurt topped with banana slices, blueberries and raspberries. Simple but satisfying.
Lunch
For lunch, I made a lemon grain salad with asparagus, almonds and goat cheese, inspired by this recipe from The Kitchn. My mom discovered this recipe two years ago and has made it a lot since, so it's a family favorite (well, really just me and my mom because my dad and my brother aren't into asparagus or anything green). It's great as either a side dish or a light lunch. Goat cheese and asparagus are a known dynamic duo, and the lemon adds a zesty freshness. We didn't have all the ingredients in the house and I hadn't been to the grocery store yet, so I made do with minor swaps. Instead of Meyer lemons I used regular lemons, and instead of spelt I used wheatberries. If you don't have walnut oil, you should be able to find it at any market, or you could sub it with olive oil or pumpkin seed oil.
Dinner
For dinner, my mom and I made pan-seared yellowfin tuna with sautéed kale and mushrooms. My friend made seared tuna for me a while back, but I still hadn't made it for myself, so I was excited to get the chance to last night. It could not have been easier. We marinated the tuna steaks (about four ounces each) in soy sauce and garlic for an hour. Then, all we had to do was heat olive oil in a non-stick pan and cook them for just about a minute and a half on each side. To get the inside of the tuna to stay sushi-esque, make sure to not overcook it. A minute and a half tops on each side should be good, but you can cut into it to check at about a minute or so in. We topped our tuna steaks with a slice of avocado to keep with the sushi vibe. For the kale and mushrooms, we just put them in two separate pans over medium heat, both with olive oil and minced garlic, and sautéed them until the mushrooms were browning (five to seven minutes) and the kale was wilting (three to five minutes). Overall, it was a very tasty dinner, packed with protein and omega-3's.