I’m about as useless in a kitchen as a chef is with a lightsaber.
Actually, that sounds awesome, so I’m way more useless than that.
I’m a picky eater, I don’t know how to cook anything, and I’m an impatient S.O.B. Honestly, I’d much rather play video games than spend an hour in the kitchen making some delicious creation. I imagine I’m not the only nerd who feels this way, right?
Now, as a 25 year-old living with college buddies, my options for dining are severely limited – go out and pick up something, eat in at a restaurant, or find a way to eat something at home. Because eating out is expensive and usually unhealthy, I learned how to make a few meals that are quick, cheap, and easy. [Insert immature joke here about “quick, cheap, and easy”].
teeheehee.
Steve’s Go-To Meal
Chicken, brown rice, and asparagus.
Win.
Protein, veggies, and a pretty dang good carbohydrate. I went ahead and tried to film myself preparing the meal. This might be a waste of time for most of you, but hopefully there are a few other clueless nerds out there who will get some use out of this. Just a heads up, it’s kind of long – about 6 and a half minutes, but it’s worth a watch if you’re a complete n00b in the kitchen.
Yeah, I know there are ways to make this healthier, more complex, etc. I wanted to keep it RIDICULOUSLY simple to start, and then you can start messing around with other options after that once you’re used to actually cooking yourself a meal. Here we go:
In case you can’t watch the video, here’s what I cover:
What to Buy
- Tyson Frozen chicken tenderloins – Yeah, I know it’s not organic free-range, blah blah blah. If you’re strapped for cash and need protein, a bag of these tenderloins is a perfect source and only like 8 bucks at any store.
- 10 minute Boil-In-A-Bag brown rice – doesn’t get much easier than this. Yeah you can go with a rice steamer, buy organic brown rice, etc. However, if you’re new to this whole cooking thing this is a good way to get started. Remember, brown rice – good. White rice – bad.
- Asparagus – buy it in a bundle/bushel? at your supermarket.
- Olive Oil Cooking Spray – you can go with regular olive oil, but the spray just makes things so much easier.
- Garlic powder – hit up the spices aisle in your supermarket, and look for one of these
- Ground pepper
- Sea salt
- Olive oil
How to Cook It
Once you have all of your ingredients, it’s time to get started. Here ya go:
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, and wait for it to get to the right temp.
- Wash your asparagus and dry off with a paper towel.
- Put down a piece of tinfoil on a cookie sheet, and lay out the tenderloins on the foil. Spray both sides of each piece with the olive oil spray. Sprinkle the garlic poder, ground pepper, and sea salt on the chicken, then stick it in the oven for 33 minutes.
- Put a pot of water on to boil.
- Pull the chicken out of the oven and stop the timer when there are 13 minutes still left.
- Take your asparagus, and break off the bottom of each ‘stem’ – if you grab towards the bottom, you’ll feel where it’s supposed to break.
- Put them on the cookie sheet next to the chicken, and spray again with olive oil spray. Use your hands to roll the asparagus so they’re well coated with the stuff. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.
- Put the chicken and asparagus back in the oven, and restart the timer. Drop your bag of brown rice right into the boiling water on the stove.
- With 3 minutes left on the oven timer, your rice is done. Carefully empty the pot in your sink, then open the bag, and empty onto a plate.
- When the chicken and asparagus is done, put it on the plate with your rice, and EAT.
Thoughts?
I honestly have no clue how this is going to be received, but I figure we’re all friends here right? I think it’d be good to have half a dozen meals on here so everybody knows how to make at least a few meals that are healthy. In the future I should have some camera help so it’s not as awkward…can’t promise I’ll be any less of a tool though (exhibit A is pictured to the right).
I need your help though. As I said in the video, I don’t know how to cook much, and because I’m a picky eater I don’t vary my meals that much. I bet there are a few of you out there who LOVE to cook though, and probably know how to make some great healthy dishes.
If you’re one of those people, I’d really appreciate it if you posted your healthy recipe over on the Nerd Fitness Message Boards under the recipes section. The Rebel Army is counting on you – proper nutrition is a key component of world domination (or so I’ve been told). Maybe some day we can put out a NF cookbook.
A boy can dream…
Alright, let’s hear it. More food? No more food? Got some food ideas you want to share with the rest of the rebel army? Hook a brother up!
-Steve
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photo: Arbon
