Photo: Stephanie Hartley

Feed the Freshers: five healthy and frugal meal ideas

Stephanie Hartley provides a few dishes that will leave you with the time – and spare calories – to enjoy a few extra jäegerbombs at Pop! 

Let’s be real, most of us know we rely on our parents to do the cooking at home, so end up pretty clueless when

it comes to meal time at university. Don’tfallintothetrapofrelyingon cheap ready meals for food. To give you a hand, here’s a list of some simple recipes which won’t scourge your bank balance or help you gain those extra Freshers’ pounds.

Pasta with a spinach and tomato sauce (suitable for vegans)

Photo: Stephanie Hartley

Photo: Stephanie Hartley

Ingredients: pasta/wholewheat pasta (one and a half handfuls per serving), one tin chopped tomatoes, one onion, one clove garlic, one teaspoon olive oil, ground black pepper, mixed herbs, 80g spinach (or about two bowls full if you don’t have scales). Makes 2 servings!

Method: chop the onion and garlic. Put to one side. Start boiling water for the pasta. Put the olive oil in a saucepan to heat. Once heated add the onion and garlic. When the onion is soft, add the chopped tomatoes, pepper and mixed herbs. Put on a low heat to simmer. Put the pasta in the pan. Leave the sauce to simmer for ten to fifteen minutes. Whilst this is cooking, boil some water for the spinach. Once the water is boiling place the spinach in and cook for roughly six minutes. Drain the pasta. Put on a plate. Drain the spinach and mix in with the tomato sauce. Serve. Half of the sauce can be saved for another meal.

Healthy chicken nuggets

Photo: Stephanie Hartley

Photo: Stephanie Hartley

Ingredients: one chicken breast, a clove garlic, one egg and pre-bought or blended breadcrumbs.

Method: preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Cut the chicken breast up into chunks. Finely chop the garlic. Mix the garlic and egg in a bowl. Place the breadcrumbs in another bowl. Dip each chicken chunk in the egg and garlic mixture, then in the breadcrumbs, and then place on a baking tray. Once you’ve done this with each chunk, put the tray in the oven for 12-15 minutes.

Simple stir fry
Photo: Stephanie Hartley

Photo: Stephanie Hartley

Ingredients: olive oil, noodles, bean sprouts, stir fry sauce (easy to find/relatively cheap in supermarkets), cucumber, red/green/yellow pepper, cherry tomatoes, red onion, garlic, and any other vegetables you have which need using up! Adjust the amount you use to how many portions you want. 1 portion = two handfuls noodles, one handful bean sprouts, ¼ red onion, ½ sachet sauce, one inch of cucumber, 1/6 pepper, 5 cherry tomatoes and 1 clove garlic.
Method: chop up all of the vegetables and put to one side. Put a teaspoon of olive oil into a frying pan. Put the noodles, bean sprouts and chopped vegetables in. Cook for 5-7 minutes, or until all of the vegetables have softened and been thoroughly heated. Add the sauce and cook on a low heat for another five minutes. Serve. This meal is great for making leftovers – just make a big batch, whack some extra portions in some Tupperware in the fridge and you’re good to go.
Sweet potato wedges, salmon and vegetables

Photo: Stephanie Hartley

Ingredients: 1 small/ ½ large sweet potato, salt, ground black pepper, paprika, 1 small piece salmon, lemon juice, parsley, vegetables.
Method: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Scrub the skin of the sweet potato with warm water. Cut into wedges. Boil for five minutes. Drain the water away and place the wedges on a baking tray. Sprinkle salt, pepper and paprika on them. Turn the wedges over and do the same to the other side. Place the salmon on a piece of foil. Sprinkle lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper over the salmon. Wrap the foil loosely around the salmon. Place the salmon on the baking tray with the wedges, and cook both for 20 minutes. Meanwhile prepare and cook your vegetables. Serve.
Chunky tomato, onion and carrot soup (suitable for vegans)
Photo: Stephanie Hartley

Photo: Stephanie Hartley

Ingredients: one tin chopped tomatoes, one red onion, one clove garlic, one medium carrot, ¼ red pepper, one teaspoon olive oil, ground black pepper, basil.
Method: finely chop the red pepper, onion and garlic. Peel the carrot and grate it. Put the oil in a saucepan and heat it. Once it’s hot, add the onion and garlic. Stir and cook until the onion is soft. Add the chopped tomatoes, pepper, carrot and ground black pepper. Put on a low heat to simmer for 15 minutes. Add the basil. At this point you can add cheese if you want – it makes the soup a bit more creamy. Stir for 1-2 minutes. Serve. This makes 2 portions, so you have one leftover for another lunch!

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