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Student View: Cooking

Help! I don’t know how to cook…

Learning to cook your own food is a vital part of university as it will not only save you loads of money, it is a skill you NEED to have as a fully functioning ~adult~… However, student cooking on a budget doesn’t have to be complicated or boring. Here are two of my favourite recipes, with approximate cost per serving. They’re full of flavour and also good for you — a rarity as far as student recipes go!

Garlic Shrimp Noodles - approx. £7. This recipe makes two servings — invite a friend over or save it for dinner the next day!

Ingredients:

150g rice noodles (I use straight-to-wok noodles, because they happened to be on sale when I first made this recipe)

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 leek

150g fine green beans

half an onion

1 garlic clove, crushed

150g peeled raw king prawns

1-2 tbsp soy sauce

Method

  1. Wash all your ingredients and peel the garlic. Chop up the leek and onion.
  2. In a large frying pan, heat the oil, add the leek and stir-fry over a high heat until starting to soften. Add the green beans and onion, then cook for another 3 mins.
  3. Add the garlic (crushed or chopped up finely) and shrimp, and cook until the shrimp are starting to turn pink. Add the straight-to-wok noodles. Splash in the soy sauce and heat until everything is cooked through.
  4. Tip the contents of the wok onto a large serving dish and… enjoy!

Dinner in under 20 minutes

Cherry tomato-black olive spaghetti — approx. £5. Again, this recipe serves two, so make your plans accordingly!

Ingredients:

200g spaghetti

200g cherry tomato, halved

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

small bunch basil, leaves torn and stems removed

10 big black olives, roughly chopped

1 tbsp capers, drained and rinsed

zest and juice of half a lemon

shaved parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), to serve

Method

  1. Cook the pasta following pack instructions in salted water until al dente. Meanwhile, put the tomatoes in a bowl with the oil, basil, olives, capers, lemon zest and juice, and a pinch of salt and mix together.
  2. Drain the pasta, then return to the pan. Add the tomato mixture and mix again to combine.
  3. Serve with the cheese sprinkled on top. Enjoy!

Note: If you’re not a fan of lemon, skip it! I sometimes skip the zest, depending on what season it is.

I don’t like my pasta too lemony!

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