College Cuisine: Microwave Chicken Parm

When you come to college, you realize two facts:

1. This is nothing like High School, and
2. You have to feed yourself everyday.

Overcoming College's differences from High School are going to be a tough obstacle, but feeding yourself shouldn't be. Now you could always just go down to the cafeteria every meal for the next couple of years, you can live off of Top-Ramen, or you can utilize this amazing Chicken Parmesan recipe that only requires a couple bucks and a microwave.

Ingredients
1 package Perdue Italian Style Chicken Cutlets
1 jar of sauce; your choice. I went with Frencesco Rinaldi Eggplant and Parmesan Sauce.
1 bag shredded cheese. Sargento 6 cheese Italian works very well with this recipe.

Directions (only 3 easy steps!)
1. Uncover Perdue chicken cutlets. Microwave cutlets in provided packaging for one minute.
2. Cover cutlets with sauce. Microwave for one minute.
3. Cover cutlets and sauce with shredded cheese. Microwave an additional two minutes. Remove from microwave, be careful- container and cheese will be extremely hot. Let stand for one minute before serving.

In the end, this is a home-style meal cooked in under ten minutes for under ten bucks. What more could a college student ask for?

Taste of the Town: Emma's Pizza

If you're craving pizza, but are sick and tired of delivery chains and local grease, then set aside an evening and get a taste of Emma's Pizza.

A few blocks walk from the Kendall Square Red Line station, at 40 Hampshire Street in Cambridge, Emma's lives up to their website's claim; "Eat here and you'll be happy."

This small open-kitchen pizzeria's menu offers more sauce, cheese and toppings options than most other pizza places. With three sauces; traditional red, spicy-rosemary red, and garlic-infused olive oil. Six cheeses; mozzarella, smoked mozzarella, feta, ricotta, Gorgonzola, and goat cheese.

And a staggering 32 toppings, which offer a balance of classic and avant-garde options. There are your everyday pepperoni and broccoli toppings but Yukon gold potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, Italian-sweet sausage, and thyme roasted mushrooms allow you to create much more than a pizza, it is a gourmet meal.

If you're having a hard time pairing these toppings for the first time, Emma's offers 25 pizza suggestions; which can be served half & half. I would have to recommend the 3 & 21.

The baby spinach, roasted sweet potato, caramelized onions, garlic-rosemary sauce, mozzarella, and goat cheeses of the 3 complement the 21's hot sausage, house-roasted tomatoes, scallions, traditional sauce, mozzarella, and goat cheeses.


This piece can also be viewed on Red Skies- Salem State's online E-Zine.