RECIPE SUGGESTIONS FROM LABAN STUDENTS

Buying Food

If you are living in McMillan Village, Deptford or Greenwich, Deptford High Street is well worth investigating. It is a lot cheaper than supermarkets and less likely to contain chemical treatments. There are many shops selling fresh fruit and vegetables including yam, watermelon, plantain, Chinese vegetables etc., several butcher shops including 2 Halal butchers. There is also a great health food shop inside Greenwich covered market. Economy: If making pasta or rice dish for dinner, do too much so that you have some the next day for lunch or a snack.

Ideas for Breakfast

·         Black tea/green tea and soya or semi-skimmed milk, 2 slices of brown bread, 2/3 teaspoons of honey/jam, 2 tea biscuits,1 small fruit yoghurt

·         Cup of milk coffee, 2 slices brown bread with homemade jam

·         Cup of milk coffee, kiwi fruit, slice of bread with marmalade, 3 biscuits

·         Cup of Ricoree (coffee), 3 buttered toast, 1 yoghurt or a bowl of muesli

·         French toast (brown or grain bread dipped in eggs and cooked) with peanut butter, banana, maple syrup and mango

·         Fresh fruit

·         Green tea with milk and peanut butter on toast

·         Oat porridge with nuts and raisins

·         Porridge oats with banana slices, blueberries and strawberries

·         Warm Soya milk and Weetabix

·         Yoghurt with fruit and muesli

·         Yoghurt, cereal ½ banana

Ideas for Lunch

·         1 fruit yoghurt, 2 slices of bread with ham, 1 apple and 1 other fruit, 2 or 3 tea biscuits or rice crackers

·         Boiled rice with lentils, carrots and baked beans  

·         Brown crackers or rice or sandwich, yoghurt, 2/3 fruit

·         Fried rice with vegetables and eggs

·         Keep cous cous and harrisa paste in the cupboard and add to salad and vegetable of your choice – and pine nuts to add to salads

·         Pasta with parmesan or cheddar cheese, lentils or tomatoes, meat or fish, and a yoghurt or biscuit

·         Potato salad – cut up boiled new potatoes with diced cheddar cheese, cucumber and cooked carrot and celery

·         Rice salad – rice, peas, sweet corn, hard-boiled egg, little mayo to avoid dryness; add ham, chicken or prawns (optional)

·         Rice with tuna salad

·         Salad with tomato, cucumber, green pepper, fete cheese, little oil. Slice of bread

·         Tuna with chopped tomatoes, herbs and spices with pasta

·         Tuna, apples, crème fraiche with bread

·         Tuna, beans, chopped tomatoes with cous cous or rice

·         Tuna, coconut milk, peppers with pasta or rice

·         Vegetable salad – lettuce, green peppers, raw spinach, grated carrot, cucumber, diced cheese, celery, avocado, prawns/tuna with salad dressing (lemon, oil, salt and pepper)

·         Yoghurt, banana, apple, crackers, 2 pieces of chocolate

 

Ideas for Dinner

·         1 portion of pasta / soup / fish /tofu,1 large portion of vegetables, a portion of fruit

·         Baked potato and a salad

·         Beef mince, carrots and rice

·        Breaded cod on a Mediterranean flavoured cous cous with boiled new potatoes and fine beans

·        Bruschetta - ciabatta bread with tomatoes, mozzarella, red onions and basil

·        Chicken and vegetable stir fry with no butter or oil – just add water

·        Chicken breast with sweet potato and steamed broccoli and carrot

·        Chicken Caesar  salad

·        Chorizo risotto

·        Cous cous with red pepper, raisin and herbs

·        Cut leek/s and carrots into thin slices; cook in small amount of water, soy sauce and lemon juice. When water is evaporated, it is cooked

·         Fish and mixed salad

·         Grilled courgettes with melted cheese and pasta

·        Ham and cheese omelette

·        Heat wrap for few seconds in microwave – wrap with chopped vegetables – peppers, onion, tomato

·        Homemade macaroni cheese

·         Jacket potato with houmos

·         Jacket potato with tuna mayonnaise / cheese / beans

·         Mashed potato, mince meat in gravy and peas

·        Mixed vegetable omelette

·        Omelette with peas, tomatoes and goats cheese

·         Onions, tomatoes, broccoli, soya sauce, spices, cottage cheese, sour crème with rice and black eyed beans

·         Pasta / peppers / tinned tomato sauce

·         Pasta bake with chicken, sweet corn, tin of chopped tomatoes, onion and sprinkling of cheese on top with vegetables, usually broccoli and mange tout

·         Pasta dishes – tuna and sweet corn / sun dried tomatoes / spaghetti bolognaise

·        Pasta or mashed potatoes with peas and bacon

·         Pasta or rice with vegetables / tuna / fish / meat

·        Pasta or vegetables with meat or fish

·         Pasta with a tomato, herb, onion and garlic sauce and grated cheese

·        Pasta with pesto, rocket, tomato, aubergine

·        Pasta with tuna, tomato and chilli sauce

·         Pitta bread filled with ham / cheese / houmos and side salad with tomatoes and cucumber

·         Rice, mixed vegetables and meat

·         Salads – peppers, cucumber, carrot, onions, tuna, sweet corn, chicken, ham, eggs, radish, potato, pasta

·        Salmon fillet with new potatoes and steam fresh vegetables

·        Soup with rye bread

·        Stir fried broccoli with garlic and chilli

·        Stir fry

·        Sweet potato (cooked in microwave 10 minutes) with salad and fish cake

·        Try frozen yoghurt instead of ice-cream

·         Tuna pasta

·        Tuna steaks with vegetables

·        Vegetable curry – aubergine, sweet potato, red pepper, mushroom with rice

·         Vegetable omelette – courgettes, onions, peppers

·         Vegetable soup with a wholemeal roll

·         Vegetable stir-fry

·        Vegetarian lasagne – with beans and lentils

 

Ideas for snacks

·        Any canned fish good for snacking

·         Bowl of cereal (any time) with fruit - bananas, grapes

·        Bread sticks

·         Carrots and houmos

·         Cashew nuts

·         Chocolate

·         Chocolate with yoghurt

·         Chopped up cucumbers, gherkins with balsamic vinegar

·        Cooked rice with cut up fresh fruit

·         Cottage cheese with fruit/s

·         Cous cous with nuts and dried fruits

·         Couscous

·        Crumpets with jam – no butter

·        Dates – try together with oat cakes

·         Dates filled with ginger, nuts and butter

·         Digestive and greek yoghurt

·         Digestive cookies

·        Dried fruit, especially cranberries

·        Fat free natural yoghurt – add honey

·         Fruit salad with nuts

·        Fruit with natural yoghurt

·         Fruits and nuts, dried apricots, banana chips

·         Greek yoghurt with honey - add some nuts or fruits

·        Houmous with celery, carrots, broccoli, cucumber

·        Malt loaf

·         Mixed nuts

·         Natural yoghurt with honey or muesli

·         Nuts, seeds, raisins

·         Pasta salad

·        Piece of fruit and 2 or 3 crackers

·        Raw vegetables

·         Rice cakes

·        Rice cakes spread with houmous with black pepper

·        Rice cakes topped with peanut butter, banana abd honey

·        Ryvita with teaspoon of jam or low fat cottage cheese and pineapple (Tesco)

·         Sandwich with cottage cheese and spinach

·        Seeds and nuts

·        Sesame snacks

·         Sharon fruit

·        Skimmed milk with strawberry or banana Nesquik

·        Slice of bread with honey

·        Slice of toast with low-fat cheese and tomato

·         Sunflower seeds, raisin, sesame seed mix

·         Toast/crackers with houmos

·        Wholemeal pitta bread with chilli houmous, lettuce, red onion, grated cheese, chopped mixed peppers

·         Yoghurt and raisins

·         Yoghurt coated raisins

·         Yoghurt with cereals

·        Yoghurt with muesli and mixture of seeds and dried fruit

 

Meal Recipes

Bacon and avocado salad – serves 4. Place ready made salad on each plate and pour on salad dressing (optional); chop and fry bacon; add to salad; peel and chop avocados and add to salad. Make croutons by dicing slices of bread and frying until crispy. Add croutons and feta cheese to salad

Bruschetta with fried vegetables – place French bread in oven until crisp; cut up peppers, onions, mushrooms, carrots, aubergine; fry vegetables in a little olive oil with salt and pepper and crushed or pureed garlic; serve on or beside the bread

Carrot and coriander soup – cook onion and garlic in oil; make about a pint of vegetable stock; add carrots to garlic and onion and cook until soft; add vegetable stock and simmer; whiz up then add some grated carrot and coriander

Chicken rice and mushroom – heat a little oil in a pan; add a diced chicken breast and cook until white on the outside; add rice, tinned mushroom soup and 2 chopped mushrooms; cover and simmer 20 minutes stirring occasionally. You can also add peas, sweet corn, green beans

Chicken salad – cook the chicken in the microwave adding nothing; when cooked, cut into slices; add fresh vegetables – tomatoes, carrots, mixed leaves, some cheese; add salt and some olive oil; mix well. You can use meat or tuna instead of chicken.

Chilli Con Carne - cook up some mince with onion, tomato, sweet corn, kidney beans, mushrooms, pepper - season with salt, chilli, herbs and a little bit of honey; serve on rice

Courgettes and prawn pasta – 2 courgettes, pack of little prawns, fresh cream (or tomato), parsley, olive oil, garlic

Cous cous with vegetables and chicken - fry chicken pieces until cooked through; put 2cm of cous cous in a pan with 2cm of boiling water on top then leave 5 minutes or until the water is absorbed then mix a teaspoon of olive oil in with the cous cous; cut up a red pepper, a courgette, a carrot and onion; fry in pan until soft and slightly brown; add a can of chick peas and a handful of olives; add 2 cups of vegetable stock; let it simmer for 2 minutes or so, then mix it all up together

Couscous with cucumber, courgettes and feta cheese - make some hot vegetable stock, add a bit of chopped garlic and peel of a lemon, then pour over cous cous and leave to absorb. Prepare a mix of lemon juice and olive oil; cut the courgettes into long, thin slices, turn in the olive/lemon juice mix and fry the courgette slices a minute on each side in a hot frying pan - or put under a grill for a few minutes; dice the cucumber and crumble the feta cheese; mix cous cous, cucumber and feta, season with salt/pepper/olive oil/lemon juice to taste, garnish with the grilled or fried courgette strips on top

Fake risotto with spinach – boil brown rice in vegetable or chicken stock; fry chopped onion and mushrooms in a little olive oil; add chopped garlic and season with dried coriander, curry and cumin; add the boiled rice with some of its liquid; add the spinach and mix; cook lightly adding more liquid if necessary. Eat on its own or add shrimps or chicken to it.

Feta and pesto peppers – red peppers, feta cheese, pesto sauce, cherry tomatoes. Halve the red peppers and remove all seeds; cube the feta cheese and put in the pepper halves until nearly full; add about a tsp of pesto over each pepper to cover the feta cheese; halve the tomatoes and put 2 on top of each pepper half; cook at 180C for about 20 minutes. Serve with salad, pasta or mashed potato

Fruit juices: Make up your own fruit juices / experiment with grapes, orange, lemon, apples (bananas make them thicker)

Fry vegetables and tofu; add coconut milk and spices; bring to the boil. Serve with Basmati rice

Grilled bruschetta –  cut up into small pieces red onion, tomato, courgette pepper; toast slices of baguette bread under the grill; put vegetable on top; add black pepper and cheese (optional)

Houmos: chick peas blended down, add water and lemon juice to taste

Lentil bake – cook red lentils; add tin chopped tomatoes; simmer; add herbs, pepper, or vegetables of your choice. Place in a baking dish; sprinkle with cheese and place in oven until golden

Lentil Stew: You need: onion, garlic, ginger, salt, red chilli, coriander seeds, turmeric, cumin, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, potatoes, egg plant and tin of tomatoes, red lentils, coconut milk. Fry onion and spices in a little oil, then add vegetables for a few minutes. Add in the red lentils and water to just cover the whole thing. Cover with lid and cook for 30 minutes, stir every hour. Then when vegetables are cooked and the lentils are soft, add coconut milk for extra taste. Serve with rice or millet or cous cous

Mixed salad with lentils - easy to do and a bit more substantial than just green leaves - Grate 1 or 2 large carrots, cut a white chicory into chunks, boil some lentils in water or vegetable stock until tender. Arrange on a plate or bowl and season with salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil to taste. For extra protein, add some crumbled feta cheese.

Nutty Spaghetti - ¼ pack of spaghetti, ¾ pint of boiling water, ½ onion finely chopped, 1 tbsp oil, I heaped tsp curry powder, half a tin chopped tomatoes, 2 tbsp peanut butter (if almond butter if allergic to peanuts, squeeze of lemon (optional)

Omelette with vegetables and potato – fry onions in a little oil, add sliced potato and your choice of vegetables; beat eggs and pour into pan; flip once omelette looks solid

Pasta Sauce: Cut up 6 tomatoes; fry in pan with olive oil, garlic, onion - add spices and herbs to taste

Pasta with pesto, paprika and cream cheese

Pasta with salmon - pack of farfalle pasta, 1 onion, pack of smoked salmon, broccoli cut into pieces, double cream and a some olive oil. Cook pasta and broccoli separately; in a little olive oil mix onion with the salmon, then add broccoli; add these to pasta together with the double cream

Potato wedges and salad – slice unpeeled potatoes into wedge shapes; place in oven with small amount of oil; pepper them for extra taste; take out when golden brown and sprinkle with cheese. Serve with mixed salad

Salads: Spice up salads with raisins / dried small fruit

Steamed salmon and vegetables – buy a hob steamer (available from Asda or Sainsbury’s); boil water and put salmon in the lower steamer; prepare vegetables and put in the top steamer and cover with lid

Stock: Boil vegetables with onion and garlic for flavour - then use the water to cook rice / pasta etc to add more flavour

Stuffed peppers – cut out the middle and top of a pepper; fill with cous cous; grate cheese on top and melt in oven

Stuffed peppers (serves 4) – fry half an onion in oil; add tin of chopped tomatoes; cook a few minutes. Boil enough rice to fill 4 peppers; add to the tomatoes and onions. You can add other ingredients like bacon, ham, mushrooms. Put the rice mixture in hollowed-out peppers with lids cut off; place on a tray; surround them with a little water; cook at 190C until peppers are roasted

Thick Soup: You need: butternut squash (or pumpkin), carrots, onion (red are better), sweet and normal potatoes, coriander, garlic, a bit of sour cream if you want. Boil vegetables until quite soft. Then mash together retaining most of the fluid. Add coriander, garlic, sour cream. Cook on a low heat for around 6 to 10 minutes. Serve with mushrooms on grain bread.

Tuna chunk – cook pasta adding some broccoli and carrots for the last few minutes; drain and place in oven proof dish; add a can of tuna, milk, 2 tbsp flour and some double cream; grate cheese on top; cook in oven at 170C until top is golden and crisp.

Vegetable soup: You need:- onion, garlic, oil, water, spices, buljong, potatoes, carrots, lentils (although you can use/choose different vegetables)
Then start with chopped onion fried in oil. Then add water, potatoes, chopped carrots and buljong. Add the lentils. Boil until soft so you can mix the whole soup with a whisk. Add spices to taste

Vegetarian Thai meal – 1 jar of light coconut milk, broccoli, cauliflower, aubergine, courgettes, mushrooms, tofu, spring onion, vegetable stock, 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce, chilli powder, 1 or 2 limes with both the juice and the zest' Wash courgettes and cut into rounds; add a little oil to pan and crushed garlic; add the courgettes and cook for 5-10 minutes; add fresh cream and mix thoroughly; then add chopped parsley and prawns for 2-3 minutes before serving