Newly moved out? Don’t know what to cook, but want to prove to your parents that you are capable of living alone? Then this is is the article for you
#1 Chicken and Black Bean Sauce
An equivalent to your takeaway and it will not disappoint, especially because it only takes 10 minutes. It’s also fairly healthy and tastes amazing. I personally go wild sometimes and add cashew nuts as the 6th ingredient, but it is not essential.Ingredients:
It is your cheap night after all
- Chicken Breast
- Red Bell Pepper
- Broccoli
- Black Bean Sauce Sachet (I usually use Blue Dragon)
- Rice/Noodles (whatever you fancy, or both? Be adventurous)
Super simple, just get some low-calorie cooking spray, spray the pan and stir fry the broccoli and the red pepper (as much as you want) then add the chicken until the chicken is cooked through.
Meanwhile, you can either be lazy and use packet microwavable rice, or boil rice and noodles while the chicken is cooking.
Then once the chicken is cooked through, add the sauce and mix it all together and hey presto, you have a meal.
Into a bowl it goes with your rice or noodles, or some weird containers if you wanna feel like you ordered a takeaway.
#2 Couscous and Mozzarella Stuffed Pepper and Over baked Salmon
Sounds fancy right? It can look pretty impressive too, but it is actually another super quick and easy meal with very little ingredients.
Ingredients
- Salmon fillet
- Flavoured Couscous (I often used Mediterranean vegetables)
- Mozzarella Slices
- Red Bell Pepper
- Black Pepper
Again, super easy, and healthy, perhaps for a mid-week dinner. Preheat the oven to 180-200 degrees, wrap the salmon fillet in tinfoil and sprinkle a bit of black pepper on top. Pop it in the oven and leave it for 20-30 minutes.
While the salmon is cooking, put the amount of couscous you want into a bowl with boiling water (there will usually be guidelines on the amount of water on the couscous packet). Then slice the top off of the red bell pepper and take the middle out so the pepper is now ready to be stuffed. When the couscous has absorbed the water (after about 2-3 minutes) and is all fluffy, stuff it into the pepper and pat it down with a fork. Finally, add a slice of mozzarella to the top of the pepper and put it in the oven next to the salmon for about 8 minutes.
And that’s it!
#3 Beetroot Burgers With Sweet Potato Fries
Vegetarian or just fancy a break from meat sometimes? Tuck into these super tasty beetroot burgers!
Ingredients
- Sweet Potato
- Plain Flour
- Fresh Mint, finely chopped
- Beetroot, peeled and roughly grated
- Low-calorie cooking spray
Switch that oven to about 200 degrees and finely chop 1 sweet potato and pop it in a saucepan of boiling hot water over high heat for about 8 minutes.
While that’s boiling, cut some more sweet potato up into fries (as much as you want, go wild) and spread them out onto a large baking tray, spray a few spritzes of low-calorie cooking spray and place them on the top shelf of the oven for about 30 minutes.
Now that’s in the oven, drain the chopped sweet potato and pop it back in the pan for about 30 seconds to get rid of any extra moisture. Take it off the heat and mash it up with 2 level tbsp plain flour and some fresh mint. Once that’s all mashed together, add in the grated beetroot and mix well, then shape the mix into burgers and place on a tray in the middle of the oven and cook for 20 minutes.
TAAADAAA!
*recipe inspired by Slimming World’s take 5*
#4 King Prawn Jambalaya
Healthy, one pot, and a little bit of a kick.
Ingredients
- 3 peppers (any colours, deseeded and sliced)
- Cajun seasoning
- Dried Long Grain Rice
- Chopped Tomatoes
- Cooked and peeled king prawns
Spray a large pan with low-calorie cooking spray and place on medium heat. Add the peppers in and cover, stirring occasionally until the peppers are starting to soften.
Sprinkle some Cajun seasoning and stir for 1 minute. After that pop in the rice, chopped tomatoes, and 700ml boiling water and bring to the boil over high heat.
Cover, turn the heat down to low and cook for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes add in the prawns for 2-3 minutes and stir occasionally.
TAADAAA
#5. Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 3 Leeks
- 3 Carrots
- 2 Potatoes
- Veg Stock Cube
- Red Split Lentils
Heat up a pot with a couple of sprays of fry light or a teaspoon of oil. Throw in the vegetables and fry for two minutes.
While that’s frying, soak the lentils in water and leave for a few minutes.
Chuck in the lentils with the vegetables and mix together.
Add in as much water as you wish, (I would recommend 200ml) and the vegetable stock cube and stir.
Bring to the boil, then cover and leave on a low heat for at least 20 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper (I add a little chilli powder which really brings out the flavour if you’re feeling dangerous)
And there you have it, you’ll never go hungry again.
You’re welcome xoxo