How to Cook Student Meals in Under 10 Minutes
For those busy days as a student, meals that cook in under 10 minutes may be the only option you have. Some days you don’t have time to study, let alone cook, and although microwaveable ready meals may seem the answer, they soon make big holes in your bank account, not to mention your health, as many of them are packed full of fat and salt.
Stir-Fry in a Flash
Stir-fries are exceptionally quick to make. You chop. You stir. You fry. You eat.
This is a very straightforward recipe, made extra simple to keep it under the ten-minute mark.
Preparation time: 2 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves: 1
Selection of vegetables (carrots, broccoli, baby sweetcorn and so on)
Vegetable oil
Ready-to-cook stir-fry noodles (ones that you can cook in the frying pan)
Soy sauce or sweet chilli sauce
Chop up the vegetables into thin strips and heat a drop of oil in a pan over a high heat.
When the oil is very hot, add the vegetables a few at a time and stir.
Add the noodles and cook according to the packet instructions.
When the vegetables are nearly cooked, add a good shake of the soy sauce or chilli sauce, stir a bit more and then serve.
Per serving: Calories 911 (From Fat 201); Fat 22.3g (Saturated 5.3g); Cholesterol Trace; Sodium 1101mg; Carbohydrate 149.1g; Dietary Fibre 9.1g; Protein 28.5g.
Pasta in a Flash
This dish is very straightforward to make and just borders on the 10-minute mark. It’s fantastic before a footie match or stint at the gym.
Preparation time: 1 minute
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves: 1
Salt
1 mug of penne pasta
Handful of cooked chicken
3 spoonfuls of sun-dried tomato pesto
1 spoonful of mascarpone (optional)
Pour boiling water into a saucepan and put on the hob over a high heat. Add a pinch of salt and the pasta. Place the lid back on to bring back to the boil quickly and stir.
Cook the pasta for about 10 minutes and then drain through a colander.
Add in the cooked chicken, sun-dried tomato pesto and mascarpone, if using. Stir everything together, spoon onto a plate and serve.
Per serving: Calories 1036 (From Fat 317); Fat 35.2g (Saturated 10.7g); Cholesterol Trace; Sodium 780mg; Carbohydrate 113.5g; Dietary Fibre 1.9g; Protein 66.3g.
Cracked Taco Salad
This is a great dish for the summer months; a leafy green salad tossed with fresh vegetables and broken pieces of taco shells with no cooking involved.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: Nil
Serves: 1
1 taco shell, broken into pieces
Handful of lettuce leaves or a rocket salad
Half a cup of tinned cannellini beans
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 spoonfuls of tinned sweetcorn
1 tomato, chopped into chunks
Small piece of cucumber, diced (chopped into small chunks)
Combine all the ingredients together and eat.
Per serving: Calories 287 (From Fat 95); Fat 10.6g (Saturated 3.7g); Cholesterol Trace; Sodium 283mg; Carbohydrate 37.8g; Dietary Fibre 4.5g; Protein 10.0g.
