What are some impressive dishes a poor college student with no cooking experience could make?

Shrimp scampi is pretty cheap, easy, and quick to make (especially since most of the ingredients can be bought in bulk). Tyler Florence's recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/shrimp-scampi-with-linguini-recipe2/index.html) : Ingredients 1 pound linguini 4 tbsp. butter 4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling 1 large shallot, finely diced 5 cloves garlic, chopped Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional) 20 large shrimp, ~1 lb., peeled and de-veined, tail on Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup dry white wine 1 lemon, juiced 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley leaves Directions For the pasta: Put a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Add a couple of tablespoons of salt and the linguini. Stir to make the pasta separates; cover. When the water returns to a boil, cook for about 6 ~ 8 minutes or until the pasta is not quite done. Drain the pasta and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute the shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes until shallots are translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper; add them to the pan and cook until they have turned pink, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the shrimp from the pan; set aside and keep warm. Add wine and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons oil. When the butter has melted, return the shrimp to the pan along with the parsley and cooked pasta and reserved pasta water. Stir well and season with the salt and pepper. Drizzle over a bit more olive oil and serve immediately. I would recommend playing around with the amount of pasta water in to the consistency you would like (instead of straight dumping the entire cup in). Also, you can easily change the quantities around (less shrimp, less buttery, etc.) to fit your rationing of food or flavor :P.

Here are two super fast and delicious dishes that let you cheat a little and still impress. They are made mostly from scratch, but rely on a few prepared "cheat" ingredients--such as canned marinara sauce and store-bought pizza dough--to speed preparation. On my blog, I dub these dishes FAST (Flash Almost Scratch) recipes. (I'm a copywriter, shoot me.) Below you'll find recipes for: FAST Penne alla Vodka FAST Whole Wheat Pizza with Sautéed Onions FAST Penne Alla Vodka 1 26-28 ounce can or jar of good quality chunky marinara 1/4 cup vodka 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/2-3/4 cup Parmesan 1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper 1/2 teaspoon oregano (optional) 2 tablespoon Demerara or other sugar (optional) 1 pound penne or other pasta Just 4 ingredients make up this sauce: Chunky marinara, vodka, cream and Parmesan cheese. Fill a pasta pot with cold water and a teaspoon of salt. Cover and turn up to highest flame. In a high-sided saucepan mix marinara, vodka, red pepper and oregano, if desired. (The pan needs high sides because speedy cooking requires a quick simmer and the sauce spatters.) If you or your children adore sweeter pasta sauce, add Demerara or other sugar. Not familiar with Demerara sugar? Read my plaudit to this sugar-of-the-gods here. And if your jarred marinara looks very thick—Trader Joe’s Tuscan Marinara Sauce, my favorite, is very thick—add 1/4 cup water so sauce can cook down and still be soupy. Cover pan and bring sauce to a simmer. Remove lid and briskly simmer sauce at least 15 minutes—or until pasta is cooked. When water boils, add pasta and cook until al dente. Just before pasta is cooked, turn off sauce and stir in cream and Parmesan, see photo below. If you’re still waiting for the pasta to finish, you may leave the sauce on the lowest flame to stay warm. Do not let it simmer or the cream will curdle. Drain pasta then put it back into the pasta pot. Pour Alla Vodka sauce over the pasta and toss. The pasta will be deliciously soupy. Spoon pasta into a pasta platter and serve immediately. Pass extra cheese at table. I use Trader Joe’s ready-made whole wheat pizza dough. If you prefer to make your own, try this Really Simple Pizza Dough from Smitten Kitchen. No amount of rolling will turn homemade pizza into a thin-crusted pie from Prince Street Ray’s. So let it be what it is: A scrumptious, puffy-crusted, rustic pie. 1 pound whole wheat pizza dough 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 medium onion, thinly sliced 1 clove garlic, crushed 2 tablespoons corn meal 1-1½ cups jarred or canned chunky marinara ½ pound—about 1½ cups—mozzarella, grated ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated flour for dusting hands and rolling pin Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon corn meal on a large cutting board. I like flexible silicon mats, see photo below, that let you roll out dough, chop vegetables, etc., then easily move food from place to place. Position dough in the center of the cutting board. Lightly flour hands and/or rolling pin and press and roll the dough into a circular shape about ¼”-½” thick. If you have a pizza pan—I do, only because I found one for 50¢ at a garage sale—sprinkle it, or a cookie sheet, with the remaining cornmeal. Loosen sides of pizza dough while at the same time rolling it off the cutting board. This is a quick movement. I roll the dough off the board and over my forearm—wish I could photograph this, but only have two hands and one of them must hold the camera! Roll the dough onto the pizza pan or cookie sheet. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect—this is rustic pizza. Press the dough to the edge of the pan to cover as much of the surface as possible. Let dough rest while you prepare the onions. In skillet, heat remaining oil. Throw in sliced onions and sauté. Adjust flame and stir to keep onions from burning and sauté 4-5 minutes until onions are soft and slightly brown, see photo. Add the garlic to the onion and continue to sauté for an additional 2 minutes. In the meantime, brush one tablespoon oil over the pizza dough—this keeps the crust from becoming mushy when you add toppings. Spread marinara evenly over dough, leaving outer rim of crust uncovered. Sprinkle the cheeses over the marinara. Arrange sautéed onions over top of pizza. Slide pizza into oven and bake for 7-10 minutes. Allow to cool for 3-5 minutes, slice and serve. Alternative toppings You can play around endlessly with this basic pizza recipe. In addition to—or instead of—onions, try topping your pizza with some of the following ingredients: Sliced black olives Sliced roasted red peppers Julienned bell peppers Sautéed mushrooms ½ cup ricotta, dropped in dollops 3-4 anchovies, thinly sliced Sausage made from local, grassfed meats

Congratulations on attempting to cook! It's fun. You'll get good at it in a very short amount of time, which will both help you be healthy and save you money. The most popular friends of mine had regular dinners where they served us food and the rest of us brought the booze. All of us were fairly pleased with the arrangement. I have a few thoughts: Don't attempt anything you haven't done before. Unless it is really simple, and you have very forgiving friends. Cooking for a group can be complicated. If you aren't prepared, it can be downright annoying. But cooking for your friends should be an enjoyable experience! So, practice before you invite over a big group. Serve your closest friends your home-made guacamole before you splurge on ten avocados to serve the twenty guys coming over tomorrow night. Know your audience. Some answers I've seen here would scare some 'regular' college students away. Cook for your crowd. If you're cooking for a bunch of frat boys, go with grilling some meat. If you're cooking for a hippie crowd, make something like hummus or dal. College students are generally easy to cook for because they normally fall into self-made categories which dictates what food they will like. Use the internet. Nearly anything you want to cook has been cooked before. Read at least three recipes before attempting anything. The best recipes have been tested, so Mom and Dad's recipe cards can be put into use in your kitchen. And, after some thoughts, some ideas: BBQ. Nothing says easy like grilled meat and veggies. Read up on how to cook meat so you don't poison anyone or gross anyone out with raw meat. Have your friends bring some sides if they have kitchens. Pasta. Boiling pasta and adding sauce is easy. After awhile, get crazy. Make putanesca. Make alfredo. Make your own meatballs. The possibility for expanding your pasta repertoire is infinite. Stir Fry. Cook some rice. In a separate pan, heat oil over high heat. Cook some veggies quickly and add some soy sauce. Again, this has infinite possibilities for making stuff that is really awesome. Taco Bar. Read about how to cook ground beef (figure a quarter pound/person, you'll have leftovers). Mix the beef with a store bought taco seasoning (or some chile power, cumin, salt, lime). Chop lettuce, tomatoes, and onions and grate some cheese. Buy sour cream and either buy or make some salsa. Everyone can build his or her taco. If you add some sides like guac or a salad, it'll be better. Cooking some beans, or heating up canned beans, helps save on the meat costs and allows vegetarians to enjoy as well.

Pasta with garlic, white wine, butter, and vegetable sauce. Kitchen stuff needed: -- (Read directions first) 1 large deep pasta pot with a top, for boiling water and draining it 1 saucepan for sauce 1 long handled slatted spoon for mixing 1 spatula for making sauce Ingredients: 1 pound Whole Wheat Organic Penne or Pennete (which look like tubes of pasta) 1 Tablespoon salt olive oil 1 full bulb filled with fresh garlic cloves (to be chopped in smallish pieces). I use a lot of garlic. You can reduce the garlic amount if you wish. 6 - 8 chopped tomatoes ½ cup chopped herbs (savory, parsley,oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme or whatever you have on hand; we use a combination of all of the above because I grow these herbs in pots near my kitchen door ½ cup white wine sliced mushrooms (and any other chopped vegetable such as red, yellow or green peppers, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, chopped spinach, fennel... etc) 1 lemon Easy, Step-by-step Directions: Fill a very deep pasta pot with cold water and turn on the fire, medium. Add 1 Tablespoon of salt. Bring the water to a boil. Meanwhile: In a large, shallow (nonstick) frying pan, heat chopped garlic cloves in 1 tsp butter (for flavor) Add a teaspoon of olive oil Add chopped tomatoes. Wait till they soften in the pan's heat before you Add chopped herbs Add ½ cup white wine Add veggies. Last, add mushrooms. Turn off the heat when veggies are all undercooked, no more than 60% cooked. When the pasta is still a bit undercooked (this means it is not at all soft, and it is instead hard-ish, but not uncooked or too hard), drain water from the pasta pot. Timing this takes a wee bit o practice. There should be about 1/16 inch of pasta water left in the pot. DO NOT LEAVE TOO MUCH – if you're not sure, pour some pasta water into a Pyrex measuring cup. You can always add. When the vegetable sauce is 60% cooked and you have poured water out of    the pasta pot, add veggies – all -- into the pasta pot. Mix ingredients well but gently, turning the heat to low; as the pasta continues to cook, it softens with the vegetables and sauce added, heating it all up to the pasta texture at which you want to serve and eat it. Pasta will absorb the sauce as it expands and it cooks the rest of the way. Keep stirring and keep checking to avoid pasta burning or vegetables sticking to hot spots. Serve in a big bowl (and, make garlic bread for soaking up the extra sauce. If there is no extra sauce, make more next time by adding more tomatoes.  :-). I like to accompany pasta with a green salad. Serves: 4-6. Best condiment: grated or shredded Romano Padano parmesan cheese

The key is to keep it simple and use great ingredient. Here is a super simple menu. Oysters on the half shell.  Buy oysters and a shucker.  Watch a youtube video on how to shuck oysters. Serve with lemon wedges or make a mignonette by adding chopped shallots to red wine vinegar. Caprese salad: We are entering into prime tomato season. Slice the best tomatoes you can buy with the best mozzarella you can buy.  Sprinkle some fresh basil on top.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and peppar. Pasta with eggs and sage: Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil. While it is coming to a boil, chop a red onion and put it in a pan with some olive oil or butter over medium heat. Throw in some chopped sage. When the water is at a boil, throw in a pound of linguini or spaghetti.  Cook it for 1 minute less than the box says.  BEFORE you drain the pasta, save a mug ful of pasta water.  Drain the pasta. Crack 6-8 eggs over the onions.  Let them cook for 30 seconds to a minute. Put the pasta back into the pot, scrape the eggs and onions over the pasta and toss well.  Throw in a bunch of grated parmesan.  A cup should suffice. Berries and cream: Put a cup of cream into a big bowl.  Add a bit of vanilla if you have it (a capful is fine) and a bit of sugar (powdered is better, granulated is fine, a teaspoon should suffice). Whip it with a whisk until it thickens as much as you want.  Doesn't need to be super thick.  This is actually very easy to do by hand. Divide a bunch of berries (stem and slice strawberries if using) among some serving bowls, spoon on some whipped cream, sprinkle with some chopped mint if you would like.  If you don't have a whisk, just pour on some straight cream (omit the sugar and vanilla).

Stuffed shells are very easy and everyone loves them.  Serve with a green salad and garlic bread (mix softened butter and minced garlic, spread on slices of Italian bread, heat in the oven at  425 (more or less) for about 5 minutes, till crisp). Stuffed Shells 1 box jumbo shells (Usually about 12 oz) 1 lb ricotta cheese 2 eggs 1 cup (a little more or a little less is ok) shredded mozzarella (If you have a grater, you can grate your own.  Otherwise, buy it pre-shredded.) 1 quart spaghetti sauce (whichever you like) 1 10 oz box frozen chopped spinach Shredded parmesan cheese (again, you can shred your own or buy it pre-shredded) Cook the shells according to the package directions.  Drain and cool. Defrost the spinach in the microwave.  You don't have to cook it, but if it does cook, that is ok.  It will produce a good deal of liquid, so defrost it in a plate or bowl that will trap the  liquid. After it is defrosted, either press it hard in a colander to drain the liquid or squeeze a handful at a time to dry the spinach.  You don't want to leave too much moisture because it will water down the stuffing. Mix the drained spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, and the eggs.  Stuff the shells with the mixture.  Grease a 9 inch square pan (or 8 inch or any other appropriate baking dish). Put a layer of sauce in the pan, lay out the shells fairly close to each other, top with the sauce (enough to cover them, but they should not be drowning in the sauce).  Bake in a 375 oven for about 30 minutes (until the sauce is starting to bubble--it might take a little longer), top with a good amount of parmesan cheese (as much as you like--I like a lot), and bake for 5 more minutes.  You can cool the shells at this point, refrigerate, and reheat in the oven if you want to make this ahead of time. Enjoy!

I think one of the easiest things to make is homemade marina sauce for pasta - it is much tastier than the stuff you buy in jars, and it can be pretty impressive to say you made the sauce from scratch.  Add some homemade meatballs, serve over fresh tortellini or ravioli, or use in any of the Italian dishes mentioned above! Start by sauteing onions and garlic in olive oil in a deep skillet or pot.  Add chopped fresh tomatoes (lots), salt, and pepper and let it simmer on the stove until think and fragrant.  If you want a lighter sauce, you can use cherry or pear tomatoes slices in half, and if you want a really thick, rich sauce (and less work) you could use canned tomatoes (like San Marzano, or the cheaper grocery store brand).  This is also fun to make with different colored heirloom tomatoes that are just beginning to come into season - try yellow, green, or multi-colored tomato sauce!  At the last minute, add chopped basil and oregano, and you are good to go.

These were my staples when I was a poor undergrad: Meatballs in pasta with white sauce... just simple ground pork, beef, breadcrumbs, onions and spices mixed up with an egg and splash of wine, shaped into meatballs and pan fried.  Then make a simple white sauce by lightly cooking flour with butter to make a roux, while heating up some milk and cooking some pasta.  Add the milk while stirring, add some cheese and seasoning, and toss with the pasta of your choice. I also used to make pan fried snapper fillets--soak the fillets in milk with some salt and pepper, then coat in flour and pan-fry in oil and/or butter.  Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon slices.  Cheap and delicious.

My grandmother is Moroccan, and taught me this very easy recipe for Moroccan Fish. Less than half hour or so to make, and very impressive and tasty. Ingredients (serving 4): 4 nice slices of Salmon fillets, though any type of fillet would work Few cloves of garlic, chopped 2  Potatoes, sliced to about 0.5 cm. 1 tomato sliced Optional: Chilli peppers, de-seeded and chopped. A big bunch of coriander (cilantro for any yanks out there) chopped. More the merrier. Turmeric Cumin Paprika Olive oil Optional: Can of chopped tomatoes First, put the potatoes in a pot with water and bring to the boil. You only want to soften them  a little bit, so once the water start to boil turn the heat off and take them out. In a big pot (with a lid) put about a table spoon or two of olive oil, sprinkle the chopped garlic and chopped chillies (if you want it spicy) and then lay down your potato slices to cover the pot. (No heat yet, keep your fire down) Sprinkle  a nice tea spoon of turmeric and a bit of cumin.then layer the tomato slices. If you want this to be more 'saucy', drop a can of chopped tomatoes on top of the sliced ones now. You can also add a bit of salt and pepper to tastle if you want. Layer the fish on top of those, and again lay down a happy spoon of turmeric and some cumin to give a nice yellow covering. Then drop your chopped corriander/cilantro  on that, make it all covered nicely. My mum used to also add about an 1/8 of a glass of water. Take about a 1/4 glass of olive oil, mix with a happy spoon of paprika to make a red oily papri-mix. pour that all over your fish and cover with the lid. That's it. take the covered pot, put on a LOW flame for about 20-25 minutes or so, or until the fish is done. Let it rest for a while. This thing is actually even better the next day so for best result make it a day in advance. Very nice with some couscous on the side or nice bread.