If all goes well with their studies, it won't be long until they leave for university. Like most parents, I worry about how well they'll cope in the big, wide world, despite the fact that they have both helped me with shopping, cooking and household chores since they were little (sometimes reluctantly, sometimes willingly!).
With this in mind, I was glad to be able to review The Hungry Student Vegetarian Cookbook, as it seems like a great book to give to vegetarian teenagers or young adults who can cook more than beans on toast, but aren't quite ready for Ottolenghi. The book contains a wide range of cheap and simple to cook dishes, including breakfasts, lunches, main meals and desserts...plus a few cocktails too!
...The Hungry Student Vegetarian shares more than 200 quick and cheap meat-free recipes that are so tasty, even hardened carnivores will keep turning up for dinner. There are also indispensable tips on budgeting, lunchbox ideas, healthy eating and how to get creative with leftovers. All the recipes in this book are balanced for a healthy vegetarian diet, and they each have an affordability stamp to help with budgeting as well as detailed instructions to make them accessible to even the most novice cook.I do have a couple of criticisms of the book; one is that most recipes feed four people, rather than one or two; I can't imagine that my girls are going to find three fellow veggies to share food and cooking with, although this would obviously make their living costs much cheaper. The other thing I noticed was that quite a wide array of herbs, spices and curry pastes are suggested in different recipes. I find curry pastes are pretty expensive and don't keep well compared to whole or ground spices, so I'd suggest investing in the basic spices - cumin, coriander, garam masala, turmeric, cinnamon and paprika - rather than buy curry pastes.
Having said that, I love the handy tips at the start of each section, they really are worth reading and set this book apart from other budget-friendly/student cookbooks.
I set 14 year old Miss K the challenge of cooking one of the recipes from the book by herself. She chose the Cheddar burgers with cucumber salsa. These burgers are mainly made from beans, cheese, carrot and onion, so with the salsa and a bread roll, they are budget-friendly and cover all the food groups. Miss K made them easily and with the use of a burger press, they held together well, were simple to cook and tasted really good.
The Hungry Student Vegetarian Cookbook: More Than 200 Quick and Simple Recipes, Published by Spruce, £7.99, www.octopusbooks.co.uk
I have two copies of the book to give away. Just tell me your favourite cheap-and-cheerful/student dish in a comment below, using the Rafflecopter widget. UK ONLY. Closes midnight Sunday 27th September.You can find my own student recipe ideas and tips here.
Integrity Statement
I received a complimentary copy of the book for the purpose of this review and two copies to give away. All views expressed are genuine.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Cheesy Pasta :)
ReplyDeleteegg fried supernoodles
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ReplyDeletebeans on toast for me
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ReplyDeleteI love to
ReplyDeleteMake rice and beans
I like Mi Goreng noodles, sold in the supermarket, they have their own flavourings included. You make them up with water in a pan on the stove, while you dry fry some tofu cubes, which you stir in once the noodles are done!
ReplyDeleteWithout a doubt, it has to be dhal and rice. I practically lived on that for three years when I was a student. It's so easy that my nine year old can make it now. The best thing about it is, if you do have an extra bit of cash, you can pretty much shove what you like to jush it up a bit: a carrot, some fresh coriander, peppers, any green veg. But if you don't, it is deliciously comforting and filling on its own. Mmmm, just talking about it makes me want to go and make it....
ReplyDeleteYou can't go wrong with a bit of cheesy beans on toast!!
ReplyDeleteGrilled cheese sandwich!
ReplyDeleteBeans and toast because I'm so inventive! Haha.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a student, I lived mainly on variations of veggie curries and chillies - never the same, used whatever was cheap and cheerful, always tasted great!
ReplyDeletecheesy bean pasta
ReplyDeletejacket potato and baked beans!
ReplyDeletequron peices with pasta and cheese sauce
ReplyDeleteEgg and chips
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ReplyDeleteThis sounds amazing! My cheap and cheerful dish was always cous cous stuffed peppers :)
ReplyDeleteFritatta as it's perfect for using up random things
ReplyDeleteSpag bol :-)
ReplyDeleteOmelettes! They are so filling :-)
ReplyDeleteMushroom mac n cheese
ReplyDeleteCheese and mushroom omelette very filling
ReplyDeleteCheesy pasta bake using up veggies and bread close to the edge x
ReplyDeleteLentil hash
ReplyDeleteThree bean chilli.
ReplyDeletePasta, grated cheese with tomato soup.
ReplyDeleteThree bean chilli
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