CHEAP AND EASY EATS

CHEAP AND EASY MEALS

For many students, your university years will be the first time you start cooking for yourself 7 days a week. This means you may need a few new recipe ideas to make sure you’re not eating the same thing every night. Here are some of our top picks for easy, tasty meals.

Spaghetti Bolognese This one is perfect for batch cooking. You can easily make a good four or so portions and pop them in some tupperware to have the rest of the week. It’s super easy to make vegan or vegetarian too, just swap out the beef mince for vegetarian or vegan mince and use veggie stock instead. Serves four.

Ingredients:

Olive oil 450g beef mince 2 onions, diced 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 150g mushrooms Mixed herbs 2 tins of chopped tomatoes 2 veggie stock cubes Spaghetti Method:

Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the beef mince until browned. Add the onions and fry until soft, then add the mushrooms and fry until soft. Add the garlic, chopped tomatoes and stir in. Add the veggie stock cubes and mixed herbs and season with salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes while stirring occasionally (though the longer you can simmer, the better!) Cook the spaghetti for 8-10 minutes in boiling water. Drain the spaghetti and serve with the bolognese. Add cheese as an optional extra if you wish.

Paella This is a great single pan recipe that’s super easy, rich in flavour and full of goodness. Feel free to add different veggies or substitute the meat for vegetarian or vegan alternatives and use veggie stock instead! Serves 4.

Ingredients: • Olive oil • 1 onion, diced • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped • 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped • 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and chopped • 250g risotto rice • 500ml chicken or vegetarian stock • 110g chorizo sausage, sliced • 200g frozen peas • 300g frozen seafood mix, defrosted • 1 tsp turmeric

Method: Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and cook until soft. Add the chorizo and fry until it releases oils. Add the peppers and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the risotto rice, turmeric and stock and simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Tip in the peas and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the seafood mix until cooked through. Add salt and pepper and serve.

Homemade Pasta Sauce Instead of buying a jar of pasta sauce, you can make a really healthy batch of sauce which can be kept in your fridge or freezer until its used up. Really useful to have when you’re in a hurry, just add it to some pasta and you’re sorted! Serves 2

Ingredients: • 1 tin of chopped tomatoes • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped • 1 veggie stock cube • Mixed herbs • Salt and pepper • Pasta (whichever kind you prefer)

Method: Fry the garlic in a pan for a minute and then pour in the chopped tomatoes, add vegetable stock and season with mixed herbs, salt and pepper and stir until hot. Stir in cooked pasta.

Fajitas Fajitas are a perfect easy meal when you’re cooking with friends. A packet of tortillas, some veg and chicken and a few spices are all you need and it can all be cooked easily in one pan! Serves 2

Ingredients: • 2 chicken breasts, diced • 2 peppers, sliced • 1 onion, sliced • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped • 1 tsp chilli powder • 1 tsp paprika • Packet of tortillas

Method: Heat oil in a frying pan and add the chicken breasts, frying until they’re cooked all the way through. Add the peppers and onion and fry until soft. Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add in the chilli powder and paprika and stir in. Serve in tortilla wraps.

Stir-fry This recipe is really quick and you can easily swap out ingredients and tweak this to your exact tastes. Serves 2-3

Ingredients: • 2 chicken breasts, diced • 3-4 spring onions, finely sliced • 150g beansprouts • 100g mushrooms, thinly sliced • 1 small onion, sliced • 200g egg noodles • Soy sauce

Method: Heat oil in a pan and fry the chicken. Add in the onion and fry until browned. Add a splash of soy sauce alongside the mushrooms and spring onions and stir fry for around 4 minutes until the vegetables have softened. Add in the spring onions and stir fry for 2 minutes before adding the egg noodles and stir-fry for another 2 minutes.