You’ve just moved away from home, and you’re having your first taste of real independence in your new student life. However, a week in and the dreaded freshers’ flu hits you hard- with no mummy to nurse you day and night, you need to take matters into your own hands. You need a plan besides gobbling up the whole of Boots cold and flu remedy isle, so here are five easy healthy meals that’ll wave goodbye to that cold.
Chicken Noodle Soup
It’s no wonder that this dish is nicknamed Jewish penicillin; this hot steamy soup helps to unblock your nose, and the chicken contains an amino acid called cysteine, which helps thin mucus in the lungs. Easy to make too; cook chopped onion and celery in butter, pour in chicken or vegetable broth and stir in chicken, noodles, carrots, herbs and seasoning. Bring to the boil and simmer for half an hour before serving.
Smoothies
Cheap, easy and good to take with you if you’re on the go; drinking a smoothie ensures that you’re getting plenty of fluids to flush out that cold. Great if you’re not really feeling up to eating much but you need something to help you power through night after night of drinking. There are a million different fruit and vegetable combinations to test out, but some of the best vitamin packed ingredients to use if you want to beat the flu is ginger, orange, spinach, apple, banana, or blueberries. If you don’t have a blender, Innocent smoothies do a great range of vitamin and antioxidant full smoothies (yes its cheating but they do taste really good).
Vegetable curry
Packed full of vitamin rich vegetables, a spicy warming curry will still taste delicious despite blocked sinuses. Buy a curry paste of your choice, throw in a variety of vegetables such as sweet potatoes, aubergine, spinach, kale, chickpeas, peas or tomatoes, and finish it off with a can of nutritional coconut milk. Be sure to add plenty of garlic- it’ll help to boost your immune system and relieve you from congestion. Maybe not one to have if you’re planning on pulling that night though.
Oily fish
Salmon, tuna and mackerel, are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, compounds that help reduce harmful inflammation in the body. No, I’m not suggesting you start wolfing down can after can of tinned sardines, but try buying some in-expensive frozen fish such as cod, mackerel, prawns or salmon and make a fish pie. Cook the fish in a creamy white sauce with some frozen peas, top with mash potato, and bung it in the oven. The result? An impressive, healthy and tasty dish that proves you now really are an independent soul with surprisingly good cooking skills.
Omelettes
Probably one of the easiest student meals meals to make, omelettes are quick and full of cold fighting goodness. Eggs are rich in zinc, an immune system booster that can zap cold symptoms. Research shows that zinc taken within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms can shorten the duration of colds. Throw in some Vitamin A and C packed vegetables such as mushrooms, peppers or tomatoes for an even healthier meal.