Gourmet Grad School

The goal of Gourmet Grad School is to help people who want to eat well while still getting work done.  I will attempt to explain my process of using quick and effective cooking as both part of structured breaks (you need breaks from any kind of work, not just grad school) and as a way to ultimately save time.  As such, many of the meals described here will involve multi-serving entrees, ensuring reheatable snacks and last-minute dinners for later dates.

For me, cooking is a form of stress release.  My great-grandparents owned a restaurant in Baltimore, at which both my grandfather and my dad cooked.  I've helped in the kitchen since I was very young and was raised eating mostly homemade meals.  I use cooking as a way to break up chunks of studying time, so this blog will be written from the point of view of a (hopefully) thrifty Ph.D. student.

A few disclaimers:

• I am not a vegetarian, though I do make/eat a lot of vegetarian dishes. I usually do not cook beef or pork, so you will find relatively little here on that. When I eat meat, it is primarily chicken. I am also pro-seafood.
• I am a big fan of the microwave. Using it will probably factor greatly into the time-saving suggestions on this blog.  I'm sorry if this offends you.
• I like to cook a variety of foods, so don't be surprised if you see Indian, Italian, Jewish, or Middle Eastern foods pop up regularly.
• Most of the time, I am cooking for myself and my husband. If he has helped prepare a meal, I will indicate that, as it might change how long you think it will take you to recreate the same dish.
• If a dish is savory, you better believe I'll be adding garlic. Vampire-terrifying levels.  If a dish calls for cilantro, I usually triple it.
• I love soup.  And cheese.  Not necessarily together.
• Recipes will be cited properly. Plagiarism sucks. Don't plagiarize.
• If I have not invented the recipe, I usually won't give step-by-step instructions on how to cook things.  The point of this blog is to show you how to cook effectively and quickly, not to rehash the work of other cooks.  I always link to recipes not my own, so you will have detailed instructions.

And just a little bit about me:  I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Theory at Virginia Tech (Go Hokies!).  My husband and I live in Blacksburg, VA, and do most of our food shopping at Eats Natural Foods, Oasis World Market, the Blacksburg Farmer's Market, and Kroger.