Student Cooking Ideas

During the winter months when the days are wet and cold, and the nights are dark, your body isn’t really going to see the benefit in a Chicken Caesar Salad. So we have listed a couple of our favourite winter warmers below to warm the ‘ol cockles.

Nice and spicy root soup (Serves 4 – 6 people)

Winter Warmers Starter

What you will need...

  • 2 glugs of olive oil
  • 2 x small onions, chopped
  • 1 x tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 x tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 x tsp of cayenne pepper
  • 2 x leeks, chopped
  • 3 x carrots, peeled & chopped
  • 2 x medium potatoes, peeled & chopped
  • 2 x parsnips, peeled & chopped
  • 2 x sticks of celery
  • 1.5 litres of vegetable stock
  • 200ml natural yoghurt

How to cook

Simply heat the oil in the largest saucepan you have and then fry the chopped onions until they start to brown. Chuck in the cumin seeds, mustard seeds and the cayenne pepper and add all the chopped vegetables and try to coat with all the seeds and spices. After a few minutes pour in the boiling vegetable stock and simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Pour the contents of the saucepan into a blender and whizz until you have a nice thick mixture then return to the saucepan and stir in a little of the yoghurt. To serve, simply pour into bowls.

 

Warming sausage casserole (Serves 4 people)

Winter Warmers Main Course

What you will need...

  • Glug of olive oil
  • 8 decent pork sausages
  • 1 x large red onion, chopped
  • 3 x garlic cloves
  • 1 x red pepper, chopped
  • Handful of chopped mushrooms,
  • Glass of red wine
  • 1 x tsp sugar
  • 1 x tin of chopped tomatoes
  • Squirt of tomato purée
  • 1 x tsp of paprika
  • Handful of chopped basil

How to cook

Heat the oil and fry the sausages in a large saucepan until they start to go nice and brown. Add the onions and garlic to the same pan and after a few minutes add the mushrooms, peppers and pour in the red wine, reducing the heat slightly. After 5 minutes add the chopped tomatoes, paprika, basil, sugar and the tomato purée and leave to simmer for about half and hour; the longer the better. We like to serve this with some warm crusty white bread to dip in.

 

Spicy Rhubarb Crumble (Serves 4 – 6 people)

Winter Warmers Desert

You will need (Base)

  • 3 x Green apples, cored and sliced
  • 60g Sugar
  • 410g rhubarb, cut into small pieces
  • 1 x tbsp finely chopped glace ginger

You will need (Topping)

  • 130g natural muesli
  • 60g melted butter
  • 75g Demerara sugar
  • 1 x tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 x tsp ground cloves
  • 1 x tsp ground nutmeg

How to cook

For the base, place the sliced apples into a saucepan with 125ml of cold water and sugar and bring to the bowl, stirring continuously. Simmer for 5 minutes and then drop in the chopped rhubarb and ginger and then simmer for another 5 minutes. Pour contents into a oven proof dish. For the topping, combine all the ingredients together with your hands into a mixing bowl until all the butter is evenly distributed and then just sprinkle over the fruit in the oven dish. Bake for around 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 180C (Gas Mark 4), or until you see the topping start to go golden brown. Serve hot with ice cream or double cream.

 

MIDWEEK MEALS TO KEEP YOU GOING

It’s 7pm and you have just stumbled in from a hard days studying, but by 7.30pm you will be out the door again. Your stomach is growling, your nose is twitching and all you need to do is eat something. Pronto.

Student Midweek Meals - Monday 

You will need:

  • 1 x can of baked beans
  • 1 x onion
  • 1 x pepper
  • 1 x tomato
  • Half a tin of sweet corn
  • A few mushrooms
  • Salt and pepper

Method:

A very easy dish to kick the week off. Simply chop the onion, pepper, tomato and mushrooms into small pieces and gently fry in a saucepan with a little olive oil. After a few minutes, add the sweet corn and baked beans (including the sauce) and let everything simmer for 5 – 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

Student Midweek Meals - Tuesday

You will need:

  • 1 x pack of super noodles (any flavour)
  • A couple of rashers of bacon
  • Grated cheese and boiling water

Method:

Add the super noodles to a pan of boiling water. Whilst this is simmering, fry off (or grill) the bacon, chopping into small pieces once crispy. When the noodles are ready, drain off the excess water and add in the bacon. Serve with a sprinkling of your finest grated cheddar and watch it melt.

 

Student Midweek Meals - Wednesday

You will need:

  • 1 x tin of frankfurters
  • 1 x chopped onion
  • 1 x tin of cannelloni beans
  • 1 x tin of baked beans
  • 1 x small tin of kidney beans
  • 1 x pint of beef stock
  • a pinch of mustard powder, salt and pepper

Method:

The quickest casserole you will possibly ever make. Fry off the chopped onion in a little olive oil then add all the beef stock, tinned beans, tomatoes and sausages into the pan and bring to the boil. Season to taste and simmer for 10 minutes.

 

Student Midweek Meals - Thursday

You will need:

  • 1 x packet of pasta, 1 x red chilli or chilli flakes
  • 1 x chopped red onion, 1 x tinned mackerel
  • 1 x lime (juice only), salt and pepper

Method:

Boil the pasta as you normally would in a saucepan and fry the red onion in another pan with a little olive oil, adding the tinned mackerel after a few minutes. Once soft, drain off the pasta and stir in the mackerel and onions along with the lime juice, chilli and season.

 

Student Midweek Meals - Friday

You will need:

  • 1 x bowl of cereal ( Rice Crispies, Cornflakes or Coco Pops )
  • 1 x bar of milk chocolate
  • A couple of spoonfuls of golden syrup
  • Some cake cases.

Method:

Melt the chocolate by breaking up into a bowl and placing over a pan of boiling water. When the chocolate is starting to melt, add in your cereal of choice along with the golden syrup and really work it all together adding more cereal if necessary. Spoon into small cake cases and leave to set.

 

AL FRESCO  

After having possibly the worst winter since the Ice Age, it’s nice to have a bit of sun at last. Whilst it’s very easy to pick up a disposable barbie, a bag of burgers and some rolls, why not check out the following ideas to make your bog standard BBQ tucker a little more exotic.

Al Fresco - Chicken Drumsticks

What you will need... 

  • Fresh chicken drumsticks
  • 2-3tbsp of clear honey
  • Olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1tsp of ground ginger 

Simply mix up the marinade of honey, ginger, oil and garlic and one by one coat your chicken in the sauce. Leave to stand in the fridge for two to three hours then pop them in the oven for 20 – 30 minutes before adding to the BBQ to crisp them up nicely.

 

Al Fresco - Banana Choc Melt

What you will need... 

  • Bananas
  • Chocolate
  • Marshmallows 

Carefully slice the length of a banana, leaving the skin on and without cutting it into two. Slice a handful of marshmallows into small strips and insert them into the slit you have just made. Repeat the same thing with small chunks of chocolate. Try and close the banana without squashing too much and then wrap in foil. Place on the BBQ for about 5 minutes and await the melted goodness that will be oozing from the inside.

 

Al Fresco - Spicy Mixican Burgers

What you will need...

  • Pack of good quality sausages
  • Flour tortillas
  • Sprinkling of cayenne pepper
  • Sliced lettuce
  • Sour cream, guacamole and salsa

Place the sausages on your preheated BBQ or grill and cook for about 15 minutes, sprinkling cayenne pepper on them each time you turn. As you near the end of the cooking time, wrap your flat tortillas in foil and add to the heat for a couple of minutes. To serve simply grab a wrap, a couple of spicy bangers and top with a generous helping of lettuce, guacamole, sour cream and salsa.

 

Al Fresco - Cheesy BBQ Mushrooms

What you will need... 

  • Large flat mushrooms
  • Slices of Stilton cheese
  • A few drips of Worcester Sauce

After washing the mushrooms place them upside down and position the slices of Stilton cheese around the entire mushroom; remembering that the more cheese that is hanging over the edge the more you will lose to the BBQ. To garnish, sprinkle a few glugs of Worcester Sauce and cook on the BBQ until the cheese starts to melt into the mushroom. Yum!

  

£5 MEAL FOR TWO...

Most of us run a fairly tight ship and more often than not we push eating well to one side, in preference to other important expenditures. Forget beans on toast, pot noodles and tins of soup, with a little forward planning and careful budgeting we can eat reasonably well for very little indeed. There are so many dishes that can be knocked together very quickly, and more importantly, very cheaply...

Meal for two, for less than a fiver - STARTER

What you will need... 

  • 200g of small button mushrooms
  • 2 / 3 cloves of crushed garlic
  • A few blobs of butter
  • Cracked black pepper
  • Two slices of toasted bread (optional)

A real classic that works well for any occasion and more importantly very cheap and simple to knock up. First melt the butter in a saucepan and then add the (washed) mushrooms, cooking on a medium heat for a few minutes whilst continuously stirring. Add the cloves of crushed garlic with a sprinkle of pepper. Cover with a lid and simmer for ten minutes on a reduced heat. Serve with toasted bread and a sprinkle of herbs.

 

Meal for two, for less than a fiver - MAIN

What you will need...

  • 100 grams of pasta
  • 1 tin of salmon
  • 1 chopped onion
  • A few broccoli florets
  • Small tub of crème fraiche
  • A handful of cherry tomatoes

Another easy peasey one that needs very little prep work. Start off by boiling the pasta in a saucepan and in another pan, fry off the chopped onion in a glug of olive oil. After a couple of minutes add the tomatoes, the crème fraiche and the salmon. Simmer for five minutes and then add the broccoli. To serve, simply drain off the pasta and stir in the sauce.

 

Meal for two, for less than a fiver - DESERT

What you will need...

  • 2 peaches
  • A small dollop of crème fraiche (left over from the pasta meal!)
  • Some tin foil

Cut the peaches in half, remove the stones and wrap them up loosely in tin foil with a small hole at the top to allow steam to escape. Simply place on a baking tray and bake in the oven on a medium heat for about 15 – 20 minutes or until they are soft. Place in a bowl and serve with a small blob of crème fraiche on the top.


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