Budget friendly recipes!

When I first started university, I had absolutely no experience of cooking. Within a few weeks I had built up a repertoire of several different meals which are now my staples! A few months ago I decided to go from vegetarian to vegan, so all these recipes are vegan. These are all cheap, healthy, and perfect for anyone from vegans to meat-eaters!

• Scrambled tofu 
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  1. This is a personal favourite for me, and it perfect for breakfast or lunch. This recipe is for two people, but feel free to half it, double it, and add and remove ingredients depending on what you have!
     1. First, chop half an onion, and fry it for about 5 minutes until soft. Then, add a clove of garlic and fry for about two minutes.
     2. Chop up about 100g of mushrooms (maybe 3-4 big ones?) and half a pepper, and add to the onion.
     3. Add in half a tablespoon of turmeric, and stir round until the mushrooms have taken on the yellow colour.
     4. Then, crumble in a block of tofu (I use Tofoo or Cauldron), and stir round. Add in a tablespoon of nutritional yeast, and tablespoon of soy sauce, two tablespoons of water and stir round.
     5. Finally, add a handful of spinach and wait until it wilts.
     6. I serve this on toast with tomato ketchup, but it delicious with some veggie sausages or even by itself!
• Bean chilli and rice
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  1. This is super yummy as a warming dinner, and it very filling! It has lots of plant-based protein in, with the beans and mince. This is also for two people – feel free to half it, or just eat it as leftovers!
     1. First, I used dried beans because they’re so cheap – I use a handful of kidney beans and a handful of black turtle beans, leave them to soak in cold water overnight, and then boil them hard for 10 minutes, and reduce to a simmer for an hour. If you want however, you can just use canned beans.
     2. Once the beans are cooked (or if you’re using canned beans), drain the beans and add a tin of tomatoes. Add in around 50-100g meat free mince (I use Tesco’s own), and leave that to simmer on a low heat whilst you’re cooking the rice.
     3. Use 50g of rice and 100ml of water per person. Put this in a pan with the lid on, and cook on the lowest heat for 15 minutes. Once this is cooked, leave to stand (with the lid on and heat off) for ten minutes.
     4. You can serve this with guacamole, on its own, or however you want it!
• Mushroom Risotto
  • Unfortunately I don’t have a picture for this, but everyone knows what a risotto looks like! This one is super easy, but just requires a lot of stirring! This is usually for two people – if you make too much, make sure you heat it up properly the next day to avoid rice poisoning.
    • First, chop up half an onion, and cook this for about 5 minutes until soft. Then, add a finely chopped clove of garlic, and cook for another few minutes.
    • Add in between 150-250g of chopped mushrooms – I normally just use one packet. Stir round for about 5 minutes.
    • Next, add in 175g arborio rice (special risotto rice) and stir this round for a minute until the rice is nicely toasted. Add in about 100ml of white wine – if you don’t have any, just add some stock – and wait for it to evaporate.
    • Here’s the long part: prepare 600ml vegetable stock – I just use stock powder and boiling water. Add in a quarter (150ml) of this, and stir round until the liquid has absorbed. Continue this process, adding 150ml each time, until all the stock and been added and it is a nice, creamy consistency. Finally, stir through some margarine, to make it extra creamy!!

I hope all these recipes have been helpful! Let me know if you have any questions or other recommendations in the comments below!