Chicken, Pineapple and Spinach Salad
(Serves 3, Total Cost £7)
With lovely fresh flavours and inviting colours, this unusual dish is quick and easy to make as well as being extremely healthy. This light meal is a tasty alternative option and is affordable on a student budget.
300g Chicken Breast (£4)
200g Bag of Spinach (£1)
A Pineapple (£1)
A Red Pepper (80p)
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice (20p)
Salt
1) Chop the pepper into slices and the pineapple into cubes.
2) Grill the chicken as instructed on packet, making sure that it is cooked through
3) Put some salted water on to boil, and heat a tiny bit of olive oil in a pan.
4) Gently fry the pepper and after a couple of minutes add the pineapple to heat through and develop the flavour. Meanwhile boil the spinach for 3-5 minutes. (Alternatively the spinach can be served uncooked if crunchy texture is preferred).
5) Slice the chicken. Place the spinach on the plate, and top with the sliced chicken, pepper and pineapple. Sprinkle over a little lemon juice and serve.
Fusilli alla Verdura
(Serves 4, Total Cost £2.85)
Perfect for vegetarians, this dish has lots of flavour and uses lovely fresh ingredients making it both healthy and tasty.
300g Fusilli (30p)
400g Can of Chopped Tomatoes (68p)
1 Onion (19p)
100g Mushrooms (30p)
1 Pepper (80p)
1 Carrot (9p)
1 Chilli Pepper (30p)
50g Frozen Sweetcorn (15p)
Olive Oil
Herbs + Garlic
1) Boil some lightly salted water in one saucepan, and add a drop of oil to a frying pan and heat.
2) Chop up the mushrooms, onion, pepper and chilli. Make sure that the chilli is very finely chopped.
3) Grate the carrot, weigh out 50g sweetcorn and open the can of chopped tomatoes.
4) Lightly fry your onions, and then add the pepper, mushrooms, sweet corn and chill. Continue to fry for a minute.
5) When you add other vegetables to the onion, put the pasta into the boiling water, and boil for 10 to 12 minutes.
6) Reduce the heat and add the Chopped tomatoes and grated carrot. Season with any herbs of your choice, and then simmer slowly on a low heat until the pasta is ready.
7) Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Stir together and serve hot.
Baked Haddock with Samphire and New Potatoes
(Serves 3, Total Cost £7.10)
A delicious dish, this once more uses fresh ingredients and provides you with an excellent balance of nutrients to support a healthy diet. This dish works with other types of fish if you don’t like Haddock, and although Samphire may be an unusual accompaniment, I believe it works excellently with fish dishes.
400g Haddock Fillets (£4.70)
100g Samphire (£1.50)
400g New Potatoes (40p)
20g Cheddar Cheese (optional) (40p)
Lemon Juice (20p)
Salt and Pepper
Herbs
1)Preheat the oven to gas mark 4, 180 Degrees Celsius.
2)Boil some lightly salted water in two different saucepans.
3) Place each Haddock fillet in a piece of foil, sprinkle with lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and add herbs of choice.
4) Wrap the foil around the prepared fillet and place on a baking tray, and bake for 15-20 minutes.
5) Chop the potatoes, and boil them in one of the pans for 10-15 minutes.
6) Boil the samphire in the other pan for 2-3 minutes.
7) Unwrap the fish from the soil and serve with the samphire and potatoes. Grate the cheese over the potatoes.