Vegetable Thai Curry £3.00 / £0.75 per serving (V)

We all love a bit of Thai curry and this one is especially delicious and easy to make. This recipe serves four.

1 tsp vegetable oil
1 small courgette
100 g baby sweetcorn
100 g green beans
80 g red Thai curry paste
400 ml coconut milk

1. Wash the vegetables and chop them into bite sized.
2. In a large pan heat up the vegetable oil and add the vegetables. Stir fry for 10 minutes or until softer.
3. Add the red Thai curry paste and stir until vegetables are coated in paste.
4. Add the coconut milk and let simmer for 15 minutes on low heat. 

Serve with...
...fragrant Thai curry rice.

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Cauliflower and Potato Curry £1.30 / £0.65 per serving

You don't need to pay takeaway prices to have a good curry. Whip up a big batch of this tasty veggie curry and serve it with naan bread.

1/2 cauliflower
2 large potatoes
1 onion
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp curry paste (Rajah's, Patak's, choose your favourite!)
200 g chopped tomatoes
100 ml Greek style yoghurt

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into small chunks.
2. Wash half of the cauliflower and break into bite size bits.
3. Boil the potatoes and cauliflower in the same pan for 10 minutes and drain.
4. Chop the onion.
5. Heat a large frying pan or wok and add the vegetable oil.
6. Fry the onions until softer and add the curry paste.
7. Add the cauliflower and potatoes and mix until coated with curry paste.
8. Add the chopped tomatoes and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
9. Add the yoghurt and stir.

Serve with...

Hot naan bread and a dollop of yoghurt. Better than a takeaway!

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Honey Balsamic Carrots £0.20 / £0.10 per serving (V)

This delicious side dish is perfect with your Sunday roast or any meal for that matter.

4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 tsp butter
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp honey
salt

1. Wash, peel and chop the carrots.
2. Boil a pan of water and add the carrots.
3. Cook until carrots are nice and soft.
4. Drain the carrots and place them back in the pan.
5. Add all the ingredients in the pan and give it a good mix. Taste and season with salt if needed.

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STUDENT RECIPE: Mushroom Fried Rice with Onion Raitha (V)

This lovely Indian recipe was submitted by Bala.

Indian Mushroom Fried Rice

50 g mushrooms
100 g rice
chopped onion
tomatoes, chopped
ginger paste
garlic paste
chilli powder
ground cinnamon
cloves
salt and black pepper
oil

1. Boil the rice and allow it to cool down after being cooked (add 1 tsp of oil while cooking).
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion, tomato, ginger garlic paste, all the spices and the add the salt, chilli powder, pepper powder (in required quantities),
3. Add up the diced mushroom pieces and fry it for 2 to 3 minutes and then add the boiled rice and mix it thoroughly allow it for another minute.
4. Serve hot with coriander garnishing.

Onion Raitha

1 cup natural yoghurt
onions
2 green chillies
salt

1.  Take a cup of yoghurt and add finely chopped onions, 2 finely chopped green chillies and a little salt to taste.

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Broccoli and Chili Pasta £1.20 / £0.60 per serving

A delicious and healthy veggie pasta, ready in 10 minutes. Easy to make into a much bigger portion, so you can serve it to all your friends too.

200 g pasta (wholewheat)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 red chili, finely chopped or 1 tsp dried chili flakes
1 broccoli head cut into small florets, boiled or steamed
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and black pepper

1. Cook the pasta according to the instructions.
2. Heat the olive oil in a pan and gently fry the garlic and chili. Be careful that you don't let it burn.
3. Add the broccoli to the pan and give it a quick stir.
4. Mix the pasta and broccoli, chili and garlic mix together.
5. Add the lemon juice. Season to taste.

Make it posh!

If your budget can handle it, add some toasted pine nuts to this recipe.

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Spaghetti Bolognese £2.40 / £1.20 per serving (V)

The name says it all. A real cheap eat favourite and your fussy flatmate will like it too.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp dried herbs
250 g beef mince / 300 g Quorn mince
400 g chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
150 g spaghetti (wholewheat)

1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over a high heat and add the mince.
2. Cook for 6-7 minutes until golden brown.
3. Turn the heat to medium, add the garlic and onion, then cook for 5 minutes more with the lid on.
4. Add the tomato puree and the chopped tomatoes and cook for 15-20 minutes.
5. Serve with spaghetti, cooked and drained according to the packet instructions.

Spice it up!

Add 2 tbsp of red pesto to your Bolognese sauce.

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Ratatouille £2.81 / £0.70 per serving

This dish is France in a bowl. Nothing beats the freshness and tastiness of a homemade Ratatouille. The best thing is that this dish contains 5 of your 5-a-day! Serves 4 as a side dish and 2 as a main.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 aubergine, washed and roughly chopped (unpeeled)
1 courgette, washed and roughly chopped
1 red pepper, washed and sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
400 g chopped tomatoes
1 tsp honey
salt and black pepper

1. Prepare all the vegetables, so that they are reasy to go in the pan.
2. Fry the onions and garlic with the olive oil in a large sauce pan.
3. Add the rest of the vegetables. Lower the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and honey. Simmer for 15 minutes or until vegetables are soft, but still crunchy.
5. Season to taste.

Simples!

Serve the Ratatouille with some fresh crusty bread. Simplicity itself!

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Chicken Fajitas £4.40 / £2.20 per serving (V)

This Tex-Mex one pot is great when cooking for friends. Instead of using a shop bought fajita spice mix, you can do it yourself!

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 red onion
250 g chicken breast, diced / 300 g flat mushrooms, if making vegetarian
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
400 g chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree

1. Chop the onion, clean the peppers and slice and crush the garlic. Fry them in a frying pan with 1 tbsp vegetable oil.
2. When vegetables are soft remove them to the side.
3. Add the chicken to the pan and fry until golden brown. Add the vegetables back in the pan.
4. Add the ground cumin, gorund coriander, ground cinnamon, dried oregano and chili powder. Toss around until chicken is coated with spices.
5. Add the tomato puree and chopped tomatoes.
6. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve with...

...corn tortillas and sour cream for a Mexican feast. If it isn't spicy enough, splash some Tabasco on it!

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Spicy Carrot and Coriander Soup £0.65 / £0.33 per serving

This is a real health food that will cost you less than a pound. Your flatmates will love it and it is easy to freeze. Filled with carotene and vitamin A it's the perfect thing to have for lunch to boost your day!

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chilli powder
500 g carrots, peeled and chopped
1 litre water
1 chicken stock cube (or vegetable stock cube)
2 tbsp double cream
salt and black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large soup pan. Gently fry the carrots, onions and garlic until softened.
2. Stir in the ground coriander and chilli powder.
3. Add the carrots, water and stock cube.
4. Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until carrots are soft.
5. Blend until smooth.
6. Add the double cream.
7. Taste, add salt and black pepper if necessary.

Make it even fresher!

If you want to make the soup even fresher, add the juice from half a lime and sprinkle fresh coriander on to.

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Tomato Soup £1.05 / £0.53 per serving

This is probably the easiest recipe you can imagine. Most students have the basic ingredients for this Tomato Soup in their cupboards and there are so many ways to spice it up. What's even better - it is very affordable and healthy!

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion
1 garlic clove, crushed
400 g chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
400 ml water
1 beef stock cube (or vegetable stock cube)
2 tbsp soft cheese
salt and black pepper

1. Finely chop the onion and crush the garlic clove into a soup pan with vegetable oil. Lightly fry until onion is soft.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, water and beef stock cube and bring to a boil.
3. Simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Add the soft cheese, salt and black pepper, and blend until smooth. Check the taste.

Spice it Up!

Use sun-dried tomato puree instead of plain tomato puree and add 1 tsp of dried Italian herbs to give it that Mediterranean flavour.

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