By: Alannah Wallace
We all have those days where we just want to come home and throw together something easy that only involves a few ingredients. Plus, we don’t have time between midterms to be spending hours in the grocery looking for obscure spices we’ve never heard of before. Here are some links for some super simple recipes that don’t sacrifice taste!
Today’s recipe categories: Parent Pleasers, Vegan Dishes, and Easy no-guilt desserts. All recipes have been chosen because they’re easy, affordable, or require few ingredients.
Parent Pleasers
When we leave home to go to university, I’m sure each of our parents has an image in their head of their kid crying in the corner of their dorm room, eating ramen every night for dinner. Well, this might be true some of the time, but let’s show them we can take care of ourselves and eat something with real nutritional content.
The Ladle at SFU (R.I.P.) used to have this awesome simple carrot ginger soup on a weekly basis. I hadn’t seen it anywhere since their move, so desperate times called for desperate measures: I found my own recipe. This is pretty easy to make, and the ginger will help to fight off the mid-semester sickness that always goes around.
Even if you aren’t a chutney type of person, you will be after this recipe. Made of simple ingredients, the apple chutney mixed with the spiced pork tastes like an expensive restaurant meal. Your parents seriously won’t believe you made this.
Are your parents coming from out of town to visit for a few days? Take breakfast as an opportunity to show them you know, not only how to survive, but also how to make uni gourmet. This new way of making scrambled eggs will change your life. They are so soft, fluffy, and creamy that you will never do a normal overcooked scramble ever again. Try adding dried oregano or basil.
Ignore the disappointment on your parents’ faces when you tell them you are making them mac n’ cheese for dinner. This recipe has more of a sophisticated spin on a classic cheap survival meal for university students. You’re not just getting out a box of 99-cent Kraft Dinner: this recipe has creamy sauce and additional suggestions to add veggies. Without any added flour to the sauce like the boxed kind, it is also easy to make this recipe gluten-free.
Awesome Vegan Dishes
Below are multiple different dishes that incorporate a vegan’s main source of food, lettuce and carrots. Just kidding. Whether you’re eating vegan for the environment, your health, or ethical reasons, or if you’re just cooking for a friend; there are a ton of creative dishes for vegans out there that surpass the stereotypical meal of carrots and lettuce.
Crispy Spicy Roasted Chickpeas
Instead of reaching for a bag of chips, quickly mix together some salt, pepper, cayenne, cumin and olive oil for your chickpeas and roast them in the oven. These are so crunchy and satisfying, you really won’t miss the chips. This is a good way to snack but also get some protein while you’re at it!
This is so easy to make, and one of the most filling dishes I’ve made. It doesn’t need any type of meat component to keep you full for hours. Impress your friends by making a sauce from coconut milk instead of using the jar from the grocery store, it’s way better.
Veggie burgers can be hit-or-miss, whether you make them at home or order them in a restaurant. For this recipe, the author took special care to make sure their burgers wouldn’t be soggy in the middle or fall apart, and would be crispy on the outside, soy-free, flavourful, and could be cooked on the frying pan, in the oven, or over the BBQ. There’s a reason why this is a five-star rated recipe.
Not only is this dish vegan, but it is also the perfect option for people who are trying to cut down on carbs. Instead of regular pasta, this recipe uses spaghetti squash as its base, and nutritional yeast instead of parmesan.
Healthy No-Guilt Desserts
It’s easy to catch yourself binge eating while studying for an exam, pulling an all-nighter to get that last term paper done, or after waking up from a school-induced sadness nap. Instead of instantly regretting your binge session and spiraling closer to gaining that freshman 15, here are some sweets with a healthy spin on them so you don’t feel quite as guilty.
Coconut Oil Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Most of the ingredients for this treat are in its name — it’s that simple. The peanut butter cups you buy from the store have so much extra crap in them and contain ingredients you barely recognize. These are so easy to make: you throw together four ingredients, toss them in the fridge for only 20 minutes, and then you’re done!
Okay, hear me out for a second. I know it sounds weird, but it doesn’t taste anything like beans, I swear. It tastes great and you don’t have to feel so guilty snacking on these during exam period. It’s a great high protein way to satisfy that sugar craving during library sessions.
Chickpea Peanut Butter Cookies
Yes, I am trying to make you eat more legumes by hiding them in your desserts. These are easy to pack for classes, work, or hikes. Put them in a container and pop one in your mouth anytime you need a little sugar boost. Just make sure not to store them in a ziplock bag or you’ll end up with a bag of cookie-smoosh.
This is another way to incorporate healthy food into sweets. Instead of using wheat flour as a base, quinoa is packed with protein, iron, and other nutrients while still maintaining a flavourful, earthy taste. Bonus: these cookies are filling and can double as a breakfast food.
[…] our first recipe box, we featured simple, healthy recipes that any busy student can whip up. But for students who need […]