Welcome to the next issue of Cooking with Bwog, where we bring you a few recipes made easier by the fact that many of the ingredients come from a can. If you have any dorm-style or Columbia-style cooking inspirations and would like to share with Bwog’s culinary team, or you have a mind-bwoggling cooking dilemma, send us an email at bwgossip@columbia.edu!

Over break, Bwog’s chef stuck around the Columbia kitchens to try out some of the more risky and exciting recipes in her notebooks. She also got a little lazy. Here’s a little taste of some of the more fruitful experiments.

Chili

This is a variation on the conventional cook-it-in-a-pot chili recipe. You need a can of black beans, a can of corn, some onion, butter or oil, pasta sauce, cheese, and some taco seasoning. To cook, you need a spoon, a frying pan, and a knife. This recipe is for one person.

Turn the pan on medium heat. Add a tablespoon of oil or butter, wait for it to melt and spread, then chop about one eighth of your onion and add it to the pan. Sautee for three to five minutes or until the onion is clear. Add a sprinkling of taco seasoning at this point, about a teaspoon will do. Then open the cans of corn  and black beans and spoon equal amounts of these into the pan (about as much as you want to eat). Stir, and as soon as these are warm (after about a minute) lower the heat and add a few spoonfuls of pasta sauce. Once this is mixed in and warmed up, the chili is done! Just add shredded cheese of your choice on top, and save the left-over ingredients for next time. If you feel like spicing it up, add some tabasco sauce, red pepper flakes, or get a really spicy taco seasoning.

Pumpkin pie and pasta sauce after the jump!

Easiest Pumpkin Pie Ever

This is for those people who don’t really care about the crust or the grandma’s homemade feel of this classic pie. You will need a large can of pumpkin pie filling, condensed milk, an egg or two, and a cupcake pan. Be sure to get all the ingredients called for on the side of the can for basic prep of pumpkin pie filling (this is usually egg and condensed milk).

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare the can of pie filling as written on the side of the can – usually, add condensed milk and egg to the can’s contents and stir. Then, pour this mixture into the cupcake pan (greasing if you want clean up to be easier later) and put it in the preheated oven. Cooking usually takes 15 minutes, but check the consistancy of the pie after about 10 minutes. The contents shouldn’t be liquidy and the top should be starting to brown. Let stand for about half an hour before eating. Store extra in a fridge.

Pasta again?

Here’s an idea to change up basic pasta sauce. Get some garlic, onion, olive oil, red pepper flakes, 2 or 3 colorful bell peppers, and ricotta cheese (and the pasta sauce from a jar, of course). You should use a pretty big frying pan, or transfer from a smaller frying pan to a sauce pan halfway through. (Note: you might want to start boiling pasta water before starting the sauce. Bwog likes this sauce with large shells)

Cut up the garlic and half of the onion and sautee with olive oil in a frying pan at medium heat. While that’s happening, cut up the bell peppers into half-inch chunks. When you’re done cutting them up, add them to the pan and sautee for 5 minutes, adding more olive oil if necessary. When the peppers are no longer crisp, add the pepper flakes and pour a bunch of pasta sauce over the top (about half of the jar). Stir and heat until worthy of being served. Pour over pasta and throw a dollop of ricotta cheese on each serving.