Every college student needs a basic weeknight dinner that tastes amazing, can be made with the same few ingredients and can be adjusted so that dinner doesn’t ever get too repetitive. This is where what I like to call Sunday prep comes into the picture. It is the easiest way to ensure you always have something different to eat without having to buy a million different ingredients at the store. And while you don’t have to prepare everything on Sunday, if you do, all you have to worry about for the rest of the week is reheating and eating!
The main components that I like to have either on hand or prepped each week are some sort of protein, like chicken, tofu, beef or sausage, rice (I love frozen packs you can throw in the microwave), your choice of a roasted vegetable and fresh veggies. If you don’t already have some sauce staples in your pantry, I would also invest in some — like teriyaki, buffalo, tzatziki, hummus, pesto or sriracha — because they not only elevate the options you will have but also the flavors.
The first thing I like to do is prepare my protein and vegetables. I will usually use a plain blend of spices for my protein so that it can go with any flavor profile. However, if you want to stick with, let’s say, an Asian-inspired dinner, feel free to marinate your protein to match. I also find it convenient to pick up a rotisserie chicken or some sort of pre-cooked protein if you’re not sure about cooking it yourself or if you’re in a time crunch. For example, if I wanted to cook chicken I would liberally season it with salt, pepper, fresh garlic, thyme and oregano. Then I would heat a large skillet over medium-low heat, add oil so it coats the bottom of the pan and cook for eight minutes on one side, then flip, cooking the other side until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
At the same time, I would preheat my oven to 350 degrees and throw my choice of vegetables into the oven until they are fork-tender. If I wanted to do broccoli, I would drizzle the broccoli in olive oil and sprinkle it with salt, pepper and fresh garlic. Then just pop it in the oven for about 20 minutes and it is ready to go. I usually do more than one vegetable like broccoli, sweet potato, snap peas or cauliflower. These will usually take between 20 and 40 minutes depending on what you choose. Again, you can season the vegetables so that they match what flavor profile you are going for.
The second thing I like to do while I am waiting for my protein and vegetables to cook is to prepare all of my fresh veggies. This is super simple, but I would chop up lettuce, cut up vegetables — like tomatoes and cucumbers — and wash whichever fruit I am using that night. Once everything is prepared, you can store all of your prepped food until you are ready to assemble.
I like to call these easy dinners bowls just because I throw everything into a bowl and I’ve got my dinner. I have a couple of different go-to’s, like an Asian-inspired bowl, a Mediterranean-inspired bowl and a buffalo chicken bowl. There are probably a million different combinations, so it is all up to you and your taste buds to craft the perfect dish.
For an Asian-inspired bowl, I prefer rice or noodles as my base. I then add my protein, some marinated cucumbers, edamame, snap peas, roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli. I finish everything off with a drizzle of Asian BBQ sauce and some sesame seeds.
For a Mediterranean-inspired bowl, I do a mix of lettuce and rice as my base. I then add my protein, roasted sweet potatoes, hummus or tzatziki, cucumbers, chickpeas, tomatoes, pita chips and feta. It is also delicious with a piece of warm pita bread on the side or with some homemade chicken or turkey meatballs.
Lastly, for a buffalo chicken bowl, I like to take my chicken and shred it so it is in smaller pieces. I usually will just add buffalo sauce to it, but if you want to make it taste more like buffalo chicken dip, you can add some cream cheese to it as well. The base I normally go for is a mix of rice and lettuce. I top the bowl with my buffalo chicken, celery, carrots, sweet potato fries and blue cheese. If you don’t love blue cheese, feel free to omit it, but I’m totally obsessed.
These bowls are packed with plenty of protein, nutrients and vegetables, which we all probably need a little bit more of as college students. While these are far from the only combinations for bowls that can be made, they are a good reference point for jumping into that Sunday prep.
