Happy Dinersaur...how to experience the Dinosaur Diet
When you don't have a dining hall plan in college, sometimes you have to make do with the cooking the bare essentials
If anyone has ever seen my Snapchat story, you may have seen some pictures of dinners I’ve made. I’ve been saving pictures of what I’ve cooked to show my mother: hey, even though you might have though I wasn’t paying attention to your cooking lessons…I did. Actually, what I’ve learned from my mother as a cook was probably a little different than what she expected. Today is her birthday, so I figured I’d share a little bit about her and what I’m now calling the Dinosaur Diet.
I’ve always felt like I’m an unusual observer. I don’t notice or even remember things I should and I often remember odd details that no one cares about. Certainly if you’ve ever heard me describe a person you understand. Here’s an example:
“Do you know this kid? He looks like he’s a new intern at a tech start up but it’s from the 1950’s and he’s there to take notes but knows more than his boss?”
This was in reference to a student in his third year at School of Business. But this is the mentality behind how I approach cooking and I think for college students who are faced with the Insurmountable Kitchen, this might not be too far off for them too.
In the kitchen, my mother would often tell me to cook with her or to pay attention for the future or I’ll never know how to make more than Annie’s Bunny Brand macaroni cheese. (It’s the best macaroni cheese.) Often I’d say that I didn’t want to or that I’d have too much homework to do. But I did pay attention—I don’t know any of her exact recipes and I have never used a measuring utensil since I moved into my apartment—but I did learn what spices work best with what type of meat and if you’re going to try to cook something in the oven, what temperature should you set it at.
I think it’s like knowing the mechanism without knowing the process. Does that make sense? I’ve had a few people ask me what recipe I use and I don’t use a recipe. I probably would never be able to make the same meal twice if I didn’t record it all on Snapchat. But recently my friends said they didn’t know how to cook chicken and I said I’d teach them…which required me to come up with some kind of recipe.
The recipes were a set of crude sticky notes with the temperature, a list of ingredients, and basic instructions. But was the chicken delicious? Yes. I think my mother would have prayed to Ina Garten if she saw my process of cooking since nothing was measured out and I went more on a feeling than on a tried and true method, but there’s something to be said when you know something is cooked well because it just smells right. But in the end, the cooking process was done well and I think what I actually learned from her cooking lessons was how to engage the “feeling” that you’ve cooked a good meal. Just by looking at the texture of a sauce or feeling the viscosity with a spoon or seeing how crispy leaves flake away, you can tell when something is cooked right. I think that’s the difference between skill and talent, one is practiced and one is natural.
In many of my snap stories, Happy Dinosaur is hovering in the background or sitting next to my plate and I was thinking about incorporating nutrition into Happy Dinosaur’s wellness mission. Happy Dinosaur is about making what you can out of what you have when all you have is imagination…I think that is directly related to cooking because how else are new recipes made without a feeling and imagination?
I would like to introduce the Dinosaur Diet, a way of making food on a feeling…and on a low budget. There’s a lot to be said about how and what we eat and I think Happy Dinosaur’s cooking tips might be useful to learn how to cook for your happy. The Dinosaur Diet won’t be a literal cookbook, more like some useful tips to practice cooking by instinct and learning what flavors go well together. It also will be solely focused on wholistic nutrition, rather than a weight-loss diet. Happy Dinosaur is about making what you can out of what you have, and in the kitchen that means the basics, so I’ll start with this:
Happy Dinosaur’s Flavor Essential
The most simple flavor essential to have in your fridge is fresh shallots. Shallots have both a unique and shared flavor. They can be added to a meal on their own or with a combination of other base seasonings. Shallots are usually added to a recipe in small amounts, for a large soup I usually put in about two or three teaspoons and for pan seared vegetables I put in one teaspoon. Their “shared” flavor is a hybrid of garlic and red onion; they looks like little red onions but have a unique flavor that brings out the sweet and the heat. I put shallots in just about anything.
Shallots are rich in Vitamin B6, which is an essential nutrient to boost the nervous and immune system. Shallots are a great source of nutritional minerals like calcium, iron, and magnesium. Shallots are best incorporated in your dish cooked (not raw) and chopped into small chunks or minced. Shallots can be combined with scallion, garlic, ginger and sesame oil for a Chinese base seasoning or with rosemary and thyme for a French base seasoning. Searing these bases in a little olive oil in a pan before adding your main provides a delicate flavor to your meal.
Shallots are usually between $0.50-$1.50 each depending on their food label.