Being a Kent State student during the winter can be hard. Make your life a bit easier and whip up one of these recipes instead of leaving your dorm or apartment and trekking through a blizzard just to get some eats.
Each of these recipes is easy to make, healthy and relatively cheap. Would you rather buy a $15 pizza or spend $5 on healthy ingredients that can yield a meal plus leftovers? Seeing that we’re all poor college students, I bet the $5 option is pretty appealing. You can be the judge.
1. Avocado Breakfast Tortilla
Ingredients
· 1/2 avocado, mashed
· 1 gluten-free tortilla (or tortilla of your choice)
· 1 egg
· 1 tbsp coconut oil
· salt and pepper to taste
Directions
· Start by preheating the oven to 325F.
· Once the oven is preheated, fold the tortilla either in half or in fourths (depending on your preferred thickness) and place it in the oven on a cookie sheet until the edges of the tortilla turn golden (about 10-15 minutes).
· While the tortilla is in the oven, prepare a small skillet with coconut oil and fry the egg over-easy– I like my egg pretty runny, so frying should take only 3-5 minutes on medium-high heat.
· Once the tortilla is crispy, take it out of the oven and spread the mashed avocado onto the tortilla. Then, top the entire thing with the fried egg and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Vegan Nut Yogurt Parfait
Ingredients
· 1/2 cup of almonds
· 1/2 cup of cashew nuts
· 3 cups of water
· 1 cup of pitted dates
· 1 tsp of cinnamon
· Added toppings (I used Turkish figs, organic blackberries, organic bananas, flaxseeds and sunflower seeds)
Directions
· Combine the almonds, cashew nuts, and water into a medium sized bowl and let it soak for 4 hours.
· Then, drain the nuts and put them into your food processor with 3 cups of fresh water, along with the dates and cinnamon.
· Mix for about 10 minutes in the food processor until a thicker paste develops.
· Pour the yogurt into a bowl and top it with your favorite toppings! Store the yogurt in an airtight container in the refrigerator (keeps for 3-4 days).
3. Mediterranean Pasta Salad
This recipe has more ingredients than the others, but all you have to do is put them in a giant bowl and mix them with pasta! It also yields a large amount of food, so you’ll have dinner made for a few days– bonus!
Ingredients
· 2 large red bell peppers
· a few handfuls of kale
· 3/4 cup of kalamata olives
· 1 large tomato
· 8 ounces of bocconcini
· 3 ounces of blue cheese
· 1/2 an onion
· 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of olive oil
· salt and pepper
· 2 garlic cloves (or about 3 tablespoons of minced garlic)
· a sprinkle of crushed red pepper
· 1 zucchini
· 1/3 cup of basil
· 1/2 juiced lemon
· 1/2 tablespoon of honey
· about a pound of gluten-free penne pasta
Directions
· Start by boiling the penne following the instructions on the packaging (different penne calls for different boiling methods).
· While the pasta is boiling, heat a large skillet pan with olive oil. Chop the red bell peppers, zucchini, tomato, onion and garlic. Start by sautéing the onion and garlic until the onion becomes transparent, then add the rest of the chopped vegetables and reduce the heat while you continue to sauté for about five to seven more minutes- or until the red bell peppers and zucchini start to turn color.
· When the veggies and pasta are done, combine in a large bowl and add the bocconcini, blue cheese, basil, and kale.
· In a separate bowl whisk together a dressing of 1/2 cup of olive oil, crushed red pepper, juiced lemon and honey.
· Pour the dressing over the pasta and grilled veggies and toss together with salt and pepper to taste.
· Place in the refrigerator for about a half hour if you prefer cold pasta salad or serve right away for a warmer version. Once the pasta salad reaches your desired temperature, serve and enjoy!
4. Roasted Eggplant Rainbow Bowl
Ingredients
· 1 eggplant
· 2 cups of cooked black beans
· 1 cup of brown rice
· 4 overflowing cups of spinach
· 2 tbsp of hummus
· 4 tbsp of tahini
· 2 tbsp of tamari
· 2 tbsp of garlic
· 1 1/2 tbsp of water
· olive oil
· sea salt and pepper
Directions
· Preheat the oven to 370F.
· Begin by cooking 1 cup of brown rice in a boiling pot of 2 1/2 cups of water and 1 tbsp of tamari for about 35-40 minutes.
· While the rice cooks, slice the eggplant into thin slices and place them on a baking sheet drizzled with olive oil. Then, drizzle olive oil over top of the eggplant slices and season with sea salt and pepper. Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes.
· Next, sauté the spinach in a saucepan with a splash of olive oil (about 1 tsp), 1 tbsp of tahini, sea salt and pepper. Let the spinach simmer down until wilted- about 5-8 minutes.
· Now, rinse the black beans and warm in a sauté pan with the garlic on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
· When the rice is finished cooking, mix in 2 tbsp of tahini and another tbsp of tamari.
· Then, Prepare the dressing by mixing 1 tbsp of tahini, 2 tbsp of hummus, and 1 1/2 tbsp of water (or more depending on how watery you’d like the consistency).
· By now, all the elements of this rainbow bowl should be ready to assemble! Arrange them in a large bowl or just mix them all together in a big pile of rainbow goodness and devour!
5. Rainbow Bowl with Hummus Dressing
Salad Ingredients
· 4 big handfuls of spinach (or more if desired)
· 1/2 of an avocado
· 1 sweet potato
· 1 1/2 cup of chickpeas
· 1 red pepper
· 1/2 cup of green lentils
· a large dollop of hummus
· 1 tsp of cumin powder
· 1/2 tsp of onion powder
· 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
· 2 tsp of olive oil
· sea salt and pepper
Hummus Dressing Ingredients
· 2 tbsp of water
· 1 tsp of hummus
· 1 tsp of tahini
· 1 tsp of cashew nut butter
· 1 tsp of organic honey
· 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar
· salt
Directions
· Preheat the oven to 350F.
· Rinse and dry the chickpeas completely. Then, toss the chickpeas with 1 tsp of olive oil, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt and pepper. Peel and chop the sweet potato into small chunks. Toss the sweet potato chunks with the remaining 1 tsp of olive oil and sea salt. Spread the prepared chickpeas and sweet potatoes onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes.
· Next, prepare the hummus dressing by combining all of the ingredients into a mug or cup and whisk until everything is well blended.
· Prepare the green lentils and assemble the rainbow bowl with all of the ingredients. Mix everything up and chow down!