This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Exeter chapter.
Fancy another trip to MacDonald’s to cure the munchies? Not anymore! Fresher’s Week is officially over so it’s time to put a stop to the binge eating that follows those big nights out. Say goodbye to the chips, the toast and the pot noodles and say hello to these three deliciously healthy student meals which can act as your starting point to a new, healthier student diet!
Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Soup:
Ingredients:
- 2 medium sized sweet potatoes
- 2 red peppers
- 1 large red onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- “Season-All” herb and spice blend
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 vegetable stock cube
Method:
- Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees.
- Dice the sweet potatoes, peppers, onion and garlic and place on a baking tray.
- Drizzle a good amount of oil olive over the chopped vegetables and sprinkle on the herb and spice blend before placing the baking tray in the centre of the oven.
- Roast the vegetables for 30-40 minutes until soft then tip into a mixing bowl.
- Mix the vegetable stock cube with 500ml of boiling water in a mixing jug.
- Taking a hand blender, blend the roasted vegetables together with the stock, adding more and more stock each time until you reach your preferred thickness.
Top Tip: Best served hot with a slice of thick crusty bread!
[pagebreak]
Tuna Fish Cakes:
Ingredients:
- 500g of potatoes
- 160g of tuna
- 3 medium slices of brown bread
- 1 finely chopped onion, fried
- 200ml of milk
- Knob of butter
- Seasoning
Method:
- Peel and dice the potatoes into medium sized cubes and boil on the hob for 15-20 minutes until soft.
- Tear up the bread into a mixing bowl and blend into bread crumbs using a hand blender.
- Drain the cooked potatoes and mash in a pan, adding the milk, butter and seasoning.
- Stir in the tuna and fried onion until they are evenly spread within the mashed potato.
- Separate the mix into evenly sized potato balls and roll each one around in the breadcrumbs until they are evenly coated.
- Place on a plate and flatten into a patty shape before chilling them in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- To finish, fry the cakes in a well oiled frying pan for 10-15 minutes, flipping them every so often to give a golden crispy coating.
Top Tip: Best served with healthy vegetables such as green beans or mangetout.
[pagebreak]
Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry:
Ingredients:
- 150g of chicken breast
- 150g of medium soft stir-fry noodles
- ½ red pepper
- 1 small courgette
- 1 small onion
- 5 cup mushrooms
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 small grated carrot
- ½ a tin of sweet corn
- 2 tbsp of sweet chilli sauce
- 3 tbsp of soy sauce
- 1 tbsp of honey
- Cooking oil
Method:
- Wash and dice the chicken breast into small pieces and brown off in a well oiled frying pan.
- Dice or slice the onion, red pepper, courgette, mushrooms and garlic and stir into the chicken and fry for 5 minutes.
- Add the sweet corn and grated carrot to the stir-fry and continue to fry until all vegetables are al dente and chicken is cooked all the way through.
- Switching to a slightly lower heat, add the soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce and honey and mix well so that all ingredients are coated.
- Lastly, break up the stir-fry noodles and add to the pan. Fry for a further 3 minutes.