Something that springs to mind is the humble fish finger sandwich, which uses only staple student ingredients yet can be a classy affair with the addition of seeded brown bread, crispy radicchio lettuce, tartar sauce and capers, or can get your tastebuds kicking with a dash of sweet chilli sauce. Similarly a basic jacket potato, pitta bread or plain wrap can be easily jazzed up with a range of fillings – add leftover chilli, roasted veggies, or even pizza-inspired toppings (think tomato sauce, mozzarella and oregano), and a 20p potato can be transformed into a substantial meal that would impress your mum.
Mac and cheese is well within the cooking ability of the average student – simply make a white sauce, add cheese, cook the pasta and then bake til golden. You can also use up leftover ingredients – add sandwich ham or bacon for a meaty flavour, sprinkle breadcrumbs from stale bread on top, or get some of your five-a-day by adding any surplus veggies you may have (peppers and broccoli are particularly recommended).
If you need a sugar kick then mug cakes can be a dessert fit for a king and capable of quenching any sweet tooth. Only very basic ingredients are needed, and a one-person-portion of cake can be made in under five minutes using only a mug, fork and microwave.
Even though as a teenager the kitchen may sometimes be a scary place, don’t be afraid to experiment. Try new recipes and adventurous flavour combinations to keep your eating habits varied, and when you’re exploring Grainger Market or ravaging the reduced section at Tesco, encourage yourself to pick up new foods. You may find a new food love (like I did with papaya and mango), and if not, at least you won’t have broken the bank in doing so and can finally tick ‘I’ve eaten black pudding!’ off your bucket list!
Should you be in the need for quick food inspiration, there are a variety of apps, bloggers and websites out there where you can filter recipes by allergies, what you have in your fridge and how much time you want to spend cooking. Ones ideal for students include Buzzfeed Food on Facebook, Tastemade on Snapchat and the BBC Good Food website, which has an extensive ‘How To’ section and range of quick and easy recipes for even the most inexperienced cooks.
And ultimately, it wouldn’t be fair to write an article on ‘fun fool-proof freshers food’ without addressing Eat4Less. A chicken and bacon baguette for 99p – can you ever go wrong?
Image: Lablascovegmenu on Flickr