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Just like many other people, when the pandemic hit, I picked up two new hobbies: baking and watching TikTok.

Baking is a huge activity for my family. My grandmother taught me how to bake at a young age, and I’ve always had a knack for it. Stuck at home during the quarantine, I used the rising social media platform TikTok for recipe inspiration.

TikTok introduced me to new ways to cook, whether it be new recipes, ingredients or techniques. While I didn’t try all of these ideas right away, I always would like videos that interested me to try later. And several of the viral food trends caught my eye, though I never found time to actually try them — except for the whipped coffee phenomenon, which I did try right away and spent about an hour getting the coffee to the perfect texture.

But now, I decided to give three of the most viral TikTok food trends a try: salmon rice bowl, baked feta pasta and Gigi Hadid’s vodka sauce.

Salmon Rice Bowl | Price: ~$40

Recipe:
½ cup of leftover rice
3 ounces of leftover salmon
2 teaspoons of Kewpie mayonnaise
2 teaspoons of Sriracha
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Toppings of choice: cucumber, scallions, furikake, kimchi, seaweed and pickled ginger

This recipe is scrumptious, easy to make and a great use of leftovers. The price of the toppings, however, can make this meal relatively expensive. While the add-ons like furikake, kimchi, ginger and Kewpie mayonnaise run the price up, once you’ve purchased them, they are good toppings to continue using with other dishes or to make more salmon bowls.

This is a perfect meal to make with friends in a college kitchen since everyone can add the mix-ins of their choice and customize their bowl with the right amount of spice for them. Make sure to get enough seaweed to have some with every bite, since it really elevates the taste.

Baked Feta Pasta | Price: ~$15

Recipe:
1 package of feta cheese
¼ lb of Cherry tomatoes
¼ of a red onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 box of cooked pasta

Place the feta cheese in the center of a baking dish and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Surround the feta with the tomatoes, garlic and onion and drizzle olive oil and any other spices of choice on top. Bake for 30 minutes, add the cooked pasta and mix.

This meal is easy to make and turned out absolutely delicious. I was a bit sceptical at first, since feta is not my favorite cheese, but once it is baked, the sauce is so creamy and brings the dish together. The cheese added a nice tart flavor to the dish. It makes about four servings and fits evenly in an eight-inch square pan, so this is a great meal to share with roommates or other friends.

I topped off the pasta dish with Parmesan cheese and basil. This recipe is relatively inexpensive and only has a few ingredients, so it is a great meal to make on a college budget.

Gigi Hadid’s Vodka Sauce | Price: ~$12

Recipe:
1 shallot
2 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of tomato paste
A ¼ cup of vodka
¾ cup of heavy cream
Sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes
1 lb of cooked pasta
Parmesan cheese and basil to top

This recipe is a fan favorite that can be made for a large group or just for dinner on your own. The kick from the red pepper flakes pairs perfectly with the creaminess of the heavy cream, giving the sauce the perfect flavor.

You can pair this sauce with any pasta of your choice. Whether you prefer a low-carb option like Banza chickpea pasta or just traditional pasta, the sauce tastes delicious and will definitely enhance your meal.

It is also a pretty inexpensive dinner option. While it has several ingredients, each one is relatively cheap, and you may already have some in your fridge, which makes for a budget-friendly dinner.

Published on December 1, 2021 at 12:39 am