Student life is often termed as the best time of one’s life. It is also the most enriching experience in terms of learning beyond textbooks. Students who stay alone often face challenges related to lifestyle. Their clocks work differently. They live nowhere close to how they lived when home. Their diet is mostly concentrated to junk and the timings are often debatable. They skip meals more often than not. In mornings they are running late and evenings they are possibly too tired to cook and eat. Personally student life has taught me a lot and the following quick food dishes are only a part of the package. Below are listed 10 recipes that may keep you from skipping meals when alone: 10. POTATO AND CORN PANCAKES Not the quickest on the list, but for how yum they taste, the time is just about right, or too less maybe. The recipe is easy to remember. Mash boiled potatoes. Add chilli flakes, salt and coriander. Mix like a dough. Add sweet corns. Make medium sized pancakes of thickness less than half an inch. Cook on non-stick pan with a little oil till both sides are golden brown. Sprinkle with oregano and enjoy the yummiest pancakes ever. Both filling and good on the tongue. If you are not good at mashing potatoes consider grating them instead. 9. PIZZA WITH A TWIST There’s a gujurati baked dish like Indian ‘parantha’s’ known as ‘khakhra’. You can buy them at any Indian grocery and general store or most stores selling packed Indian food. They are spiced and can be eaten on their own. Also they can be topped with pizza toppings to make for a wonderfully delicious meal. You can add lots of vegetable and cottage cheese if you are health conscious. Will make a healthy quick to make meal for all those students who love pizza’s but need to keep a check on their pockets too. 8. CONE OF GOOD HEALTH Yeah, I know you had heard of Cape of Good Hope and may be wondering what is cone of good health supposed to be. This one is an unusual meal but one of my personal favourites. You might not be completely convinced with my invention but giving it one humble try would not harm. There are more chances that you will love it. It is one of the simplest meals to prepare. All you need to do is chop or grate vegetables like cabbage, carrot, cucumber, capsicum, boiled mushrooms, sweet corn and anything else that you may wish to add. Mix them in your choice of flavoured mayonnaise and fill this in a chocolate waffle cone. It is a healthy more filling substitute to ice-cream. To make it healthier try using chilled yoghurt instead of mayo; hung curd will be a good choice too. It would be healthy and munch-y all at once. If you prefer desserts instead, use fruits. 7. SHAKE AND MAKE A CHOCOLATE SHAKE I know the title mentions meals and not beverages. Most students, however, would agree with me when I say a full glass of chocolate shake is more filling than a meal and it suits our taste buds too. The best part to it is that you need not be one of the best cooks to prepare the yummiest shake ever. Even if you run short of chocolate sauce/ chocolate powder, just break a chocolate bar into pieces, add a glass of milk and mix them in a mixer. Other options are adding a brownie or oreo biscuits to relish the yummiest shake ever. For the health conscious replace chocolate with fleshy fruits or use unsweetened chocolate and a protein substitute. I bet they will keep you fill for longer than those Mc Donald’s burgers. 6. SPICE THE VERMICELLI This one requires some cooking skills. It is cooking vermicelli to make a noodles like snack. Boil the vermicelli in just about enough water to soak them in. They should just about soak in the water. Add salt, green chilli, red chilli, finely chopped onions, capsicums and boiled potatoes. Add cumin seeds and stir till the vermicelli gets soft. Do not let the water dry off completely. If you have spiced it right there is little chance of not loving this meal. 5. TRY AND RESIST MAC N CHEESE Internationally, quick meals for students is almost synonymous for mac-n-cheese. It’s the easiest stuff to make too. Boil macaroni. Run it under cold water till it cools. Cook it in any cheese of your choice. Make sure the cheese melts to a runny or smooth consistency though. It is high calorie meal but provides energy and would keep you from starving for a long time. Top it with oregano seasoning and chilli flakes. 4. SALAD THE FRUIT It is the healthiest, tastiest option ever. I am sure I need not explain the recipe to this. You can chop just about any fruits of your choice, add them in a bowl and squeeze some lemon juice and black salt over it. You are ready to indulge on a yummy desert like meal that is high on roughage too. Some variations can include sprinkling a dash of cinnamon, adding whipped cream (do not add lemon then), a few gummy bears, honey or simply having them with crispy waffle. Some people prefer to add maple syrup too. If you choose to indulge and give in to sinful temptations you might as well add a scoop of your favourite ice cream and flavoured syrups. It can double up for an ice-cream Sunday but remember to let the fruit content dominate. 3. ‘SAND’ THE ‘WICH’ No, I sure have not forgotten my kindergarten spellings. The wich there was a wich and not a witch. The reason? You can probably not consume a “sandwitch” (literally the witch made of sand) instead of a sandwich. I have refrained from adding subs and burgers separately for I believe it’s a similar if not same category they fall under. I need not share a recipe for this one for all who have ever lived alone would most readily share their variation of a recipe to the yummiest sandwiches ever with me. You can stuff with anything from mashed potatoes, mayo and veggies to hams and eggs. You can have your sandwich raw, grilled or just about in the middle- just as you like it to be. Healthier alternative is exchanging your white bread for brown or full wheat bread. 2. “SPROUT”ING FARM It is one of the healthiest options to alternate for a full-fledged meal. Sprouts belong to the legume family and are a high source of protein. These can be good option for all those guys who are working on a more muscular body. Sprouts need to be soaked for at least a day though. They can be eaten raw as salad with tomato, onion, cucumber, carrots to enhance the taste adding lemon juice and spices OR they can be boiled and salted and spiced according to taste buds. Both forms are healthy and tasty to have. Also quick, provided you remember to soak them at regular intervals. 1. 2 MINUTES TO HAPPINESS-INSTANT NOODLES Trust me on it, there is no other meal as quick and appealing to the taste buds as the two minute noodles for students staying alone. Like their jingle goes two minutes to happiness, their truly isn’t a happier moment in a student’s life than the moment when his/ her instant noodles are made in the middle of the night. Low on nutritious value, it scores high on taste, availability and easy to cook factor. I am certain it is hardly a meal, but yet the best for students living alone for there’s no time they can say no to noodles. Source
