Moving out for the first time? It’s been fun hasn’t it? Staying with other students, not having to let your parents know when you’ll be home and being able to control your own diet. Admit it though, are you really enjoying the third spice bag this week? Do those baked beans really cover your five-a-day? And is that 60 cent Tesco pizza really as filling as you’ve convinced yourself it is, or are you just trying to stretch that four euro left in your bank account to the end of the month?

 

Well have no fear, because I have been there.So in order of increasing despracy, here are a selection of old faithfuls that have served me well and will hopefully provide some reprieve from those cold chips your co-loc was about to throw out (not that you shouldn’t relish those chips, low-key you and I both know that it gets so much worse). 

 

Mile High Thighs:

2-3 Servings

Vegetables can be swapped out, but have been included to provide food groups..

 

• 1KG of Chicken Thighs
• 1 Bell Pepper
• 1 Large Red Onion
• 200G Lardons (Slices of bacon can be chopped up as a substitute)
• 2 – 4 Cloves of Garlic (size dependent) 
• 1 Tin of Tomatoes (Preferably chopped)
• A generous amount of Paprika (Pro -Tip: getting a portion of spices from home will make life 1000X less miserable)

 

Set the oven to 200C. Cut a lump of butter and place it in a tray, which you can then place in the oven as it warms up.

 

Dice the onion and the pepper. In the event that one is time-poor or lacking in technical skill, it is permissible to clobber veg into eighths with a large knife, but taking the time to be surgical will yield a far more even flavour.

 

When the butter has melted, chuck the thighs in and season with pepper and paprika.

 

Heat the lardons up in a dry pan. If you set the pan at a medium heat and keep stirring, the lardons will not stick. You will see the fat begin to melt like candle wax. When this happens, the vegetables can be chucked in along with a touch more paprika. 

 

Bash the garlic with the palm of your hand, rip off the skin and throw  the remainder into the pan.

 

Fry lightly until the onions soften. Turn down the hob and check if the thighs have browned. If they have, than it is time to proceed, if not it is wise to take the veg and lardons off the heat and cover them. 

 

When you proceed, take the thighs out and sprinkle some sugar across the top before throwing on the contents of the pan. Ensure the veg is spread throughout, then pour the tin of tomatoes over the top, covering the entire dish.

 

Cover with tin foil and place the dish in the oven, turning down the heat to 150C. This is essentially all of the work done, just leave it for half an hour to 40 minutes and check on the dish by cutting open a chicken thigh. If it’s cooked through then happy days, if not leave it in for a bit longer and check with the same method. 

 

Quick Stir Fry:

2 Servings

This one is for the more time-poor among us.

 

• 1 pack of Chicken beasts or pork chops or beef (you can buy pre-diced to save time)
• Assorted Vegetables:
• 1 Bell Pepper
• 1 Bunch of Spring Onions (1 Red onion will also work fine)
• 2 big handfuls of Mushrooms 
• (These are my preferred options, but feel free to add and subtract – carrots and sugar snap peas are also solid options) 
• 2 Cloves of Garlic
• 2cm Lump of Ginger (doesn’t have to be super precise)
• 2 Tablespoons of Honey
• 3.5 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
• Juice of a Lime
• 1 Small Chilli 
• 2 Mugs of Rice (Depends on the size of the mug. Remember, there will be about 50% more than it looks like there will be when uncooked)

 

Throw the rice into a pot on the hob, then take the same mug you measured the rice in and measure out twice as much water and add it to the pot, then throw in a glug of soy sauce and some pepper for seasoning. Cover and leave to boil.

 

Chop the veg and meat.

Chop the garlic, ginger and chilli as fine as you can, but nobody is perfect the first time.

 

Cover a pan in oil (preferably sesomy, but if you don’t have a special kind of oil for one meal I won’t judge).

 

Whack another hob on a medium heat and place in the garlic, ginger and chilli.

 

As they begin to sizzle, throw in the veg and fry while stirring often.

 

When the veg begins to soften, chuck in the meat (or leave it out for vegetarians)

 

Now you can add the soy sauce and half of the lime juice, then turn the heat up.

 

When the rice is cooked (check with a taste test once the water has almost completely boiled off) and the meat is brown, lump the rice into the pan and stir to mix around. If there is too much you can always keep some aside (frying it with egg is always a good shout).

 

Now stir while adding the rest of the lime and the honey.

 

Once all is mixed and cooked through, it’s a good idea to taste and add more of any flavour that is lacking.

Salt: Soy Sauce

Sour: Lime Juice

Sweet: Honey

Spicy: Black Pepper or Chilli Powder (if you have it)

C’est Ca

 

Curried Baked Beans:

 

I swear it’s far better than it sounds, but if you’ve gotten this far you’re probably desperate enough.

 

• 1 Tin of Baked beans
• If you have them lying around, an onion, a pepper and 2 or 3 cloves of garlic
• Curry powder (will suffice)
• Or 
• 1 Tablespoon of Cumin, 
• 1 Teaspoon Paprika
• 1 Star of Star Anise (also turmeric for colour if you’re feeling boujee)
• 1 Small Chilli

 

Chop up the chilli and any veg you have.

 

Cover a pan in oil and turn the hob to a medium heat.

 

Trough in the chill and if you have it, the garlic.

 

When they begin to sizzle fling in the veg, followed by the spices.

 

When the veg is softening,  add the baked beans. This is the galaxy-brained play, the beans contain our protein, but also our sauce.

 

So now, we simply heat the beans through.

 

Taste and add any more of the spices (Though make sure to cook a little longer to bring out the flavour if you do)