For Tuesday’s dinner, I made some sausage with broccolini and smashed crispy potatoes. To make this I bought the preseason sausage from the store. I got hot Italian pork sausage. I cooked it, making sure it got nice and crispy. I then boiled my broccolini and sauteed it for a minute in butter and garlic along with salt and pepper. For the potatoes, I boiled them until fork tender. Then, I used a cup to smash them down. I brushed them with melted butter, paprika, salt, pepper, red chili flakes, and onion powder and garlic powder. I then baked them at 400 degrees until crispy. I took them out right before they were down and grated some fresh parmesan cheese and put them back in to get even crispier. I then grated parmesan on the broccolini as well. I cut my sausage and plated everything together. I also made a creamy cilantro avocado dip for my potatoes with some ranch as well. This is a super easy dish to make and full of protein and veggies. I highly love this meal and recommend everyone try it if they are in a pinch. Hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving!!!!

For my Monday dinner before Thanksgiving, I made a spicy, cheesy black bean soup. The first time I had black bean soup was at my uncle’s house when I was younger, and it was one of my first times using a blender. To make this soup, it is easy. First you need to sauté some garlic, onions, and carrots. Next you add some chicken broth and all your seasoning. I used paprika, more garlic, onion powder, hot chilis, cayenne, and cumin. I then added my beans and added all the contents to a blender. I then added some chopped avocado, cheese, and extra hot sauce. This soup was delicious and perfect for the cold weather. I also made a grilled cheese to eat with my soup. I highly recommend trying this recipe out!!!

For one of my dinners this week, I decided to go the easy but delicious route with baked chicken and a cilantro lime dip. I don’t have the picture for the dip because it was so good, I couldn’t wait to eat it! What I did was buy a pack of skin on chicken thighs and marinaded them all at once so after class I could easily pop them into the oven after class. I marinated them in olive oil, lime juice, paprika, Italian seasoning, turmeric, red chili powder, lemon pepper, salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, and onion powder. I turned the oven on 400 degrees F to make sure that the skin got super crispy and it did!!! The meat was juicy and tender while the skin was delicious and crispy. For the cilantro lime sauce, I blended Greek yogurt, mayo, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, jalapeno, salt, pepper, avocado, and ranch seasoning. The dip helped to lighten the chicken from the grease and added a nice tang and freshness. I highly recommend having marinated meat ready and prepped for cooking for busy college students or for anyone!

This week for one of my lunches I made the Tiktok famous Green Goddess Salad by BakedByMelissa. I had seen this salad all over my foryoupage a while ago and had always wanted to try making it. I finally had the chance, and it was one of the best salads I had ever had. This salad is made by chopping up cucumber, green onions, chives, cabbage, and red onion. The sauce is made by blending spinach, walnuts, nutritional yeast, shallots, lime juice, more chives and green onions, rice vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic. This salad was super flavorful, fresh, and had a wonderful crunch. I ate mine with blue corn tortilla chips. I will now make this salad at least every week now. I highly recommend trying this recipe out!!! It was also my first time trying nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is a great vegan substitute for cheese as it gives a cheesy taste. It also it loaded with vitamins. Enjoy!!

This week for Wednesday’s dinner I made ratatouille!!! I had recently rewatched the movie and had always wanted to try making it so this week I did. This is definitely a time consuming recipe which involves roasting peppers, making your own sauce, a garlic parsley and parmesan topping oil, thinly slicing all your vegetables, and a slow low roast. The vegetables that I used were eggplants, zucchini, squash, and tomatoes. I used a mandolin to make sure my veggies were nice and thin. The sauce consisted of roasted yellow, orange, and red bell peppers for a sweeter taste instead of the sharpness of green peppers. We also used garlic, parmesan, parsley, chicken broth, and lots of Italian seasoning. The topping oil really pulled the dish together and added a garlicky flavor. Definitely would recommend making ratatouille especially if you’re a huge fan of the movie like me!!!

For Monday’s dinner this week, I decided to make delicious loaded steak nachos. These nachos are one of the easiest and most delicious dinners to make. They are my comfort nachos. I made the steak by simply frying with salt and pepper then cutting them into bite size pieces after they had rested. I then marinading the cooked pieces using a marinade of garlic, sazon goya con cilantro y anchiote seasoning mix, lots of lime juice, and extra chili powder. I also made homemade spicy queso. To make the queso, you make a rue of butter and flour, then add chicken broth, Colby jack cheese, and spicy salsa. I also added regular salsa, homemade guacamole, tomatoes, onions, pickled jalapenos, and sour cream. Just writing about these nachos are making me crave them!!!!

For Wednesday’s dinner, I decided to try making kimchi jjigae for the first time. Kimchi jjigae is a Korean kimchi stew. I first tried kimchi jjigae in Chicago on a cold rainy day and it was absolutely delicious. I have been recently craving it but there were no restaurants near me that served it. So, I decided to make it myself. I made mine vegetarian but you can add pork or beef. I first sauteed some garlic and onions and then cut up some kimchi and sauteed that as well. Next came chicken stock, gochujang, (Korean chili flakes) , sugar, soft silken tofu, green onions, and some enoki mushrooms. The enoki mushrooms were my favorite because they soaked up so much flavor and added a nice crunch to the soup. This soup warms the soul and I highly recommend everyone tries it!!! I enjoyed my soup with some hot rice and a cold Korean coffee milk drink.

On Monday for dinner, I decided to make pastina. Pastina is an Italian dish consisting of very small, star shaped pasta that has been cooked in butter, chicken stock, and fresh parmesan cheese. Italians make this dish for their children or themselves whenever they feel sick or under the weather. I decided to make my pastina a little fancy. I decided to use fresh parmesan and fresh gruyere. The gruyere added a nice nutty flavor. I also decided to add some cooked pancetta. The key to rendering out all the fat is to add the pancetta to a cold pan and allow it to slowly heat up and cook. I then used the frond in the pot to sauteed some spicy mushrooms. I added more cheese and butter on top and ate it. It was absolutely delicious. The little star shaped pasta was adorable. It made me feel warm inside and warmed me up. 10/10 would highly recommend making this dish!

To go with my delicious meatballs, I made this homemade chocolate cake. This was the best chocolate cake I had ever had. (not to toot my own horn :D). It was super moist and the chocolate flavor was rich and had a lot of depth. I used a lot of flavor enhancers such as espresso, stout bear, dark chocolate shards in the cake as well as using Dutch processed cocoa powder. The frosting also uses the same Dutch cocoa powder so the chocolate flavor was out of this world. I absolutely cannot wait to eat this again one day. This recipe was from Buzzfeed’s ultimate chocolate video. This tastes amazing as a midnight snack with a glass of milk. I would definitely call this a death by chocolate chocolate cake :D.

For dinner this week on Tuesday, I made these cheese stuffed spicy meatballs with homemade marinara sauce and lemon garlic ricotta. When I pulled the meatballs apart, they had a super cool cheese pull. The way I achieved this was by forming the meatballs into a flat pancake and adding a small ball of mozzarella to the middle and then forming the meatball shape around it. The marinara sauce was spicy and garlicky, and the lemon garlic whipped ricotta added a bit of freshness, lightness and citrus to the whole meal. I found this recipe on TikTok by the user @moribyan. I watched Do Revenge on Netflix while I ate :)

Pork Katsudon

This week on 10/18 I made pork katsudon. This was a very delicious dinner which consisted of fried pork, rice, and eggs. I also added some onions to the eggs and soft scrambled with butter and dashi. I also added a bit of japanese mayo as a topping. I really loved this dish so much. It was warming, flavorful, and the pork was super crispy. I ate this while watching a k-drama called, "Hotel De Luna." Enjoy!!!!

Hello!!!!! My name is Salina and this is my blog "Eating with Lina." Here I will be showcasing some of the homecooked meals I make at my college apartment. I love to make dishes from different cuisines and I love to bake so be on the lookout for some sweet treats!! I hope you enjoy this blog and share in my love for food! <3