Baked Beans: Every student’s favourite and healthier than we thought! This student staple is packed with protein, fibre, iron and calcium as well as being low GI. The tomato sauce that beans come in is also a source of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant and can help to prevent heart disease and cancer! So let’s stick to the stereotype and keep eating our baked beans!

Bananas: I love bananas and you can also get them really cheap. You can get a bunch of 8 bananas from Sainsbury’s for £1 and they are fair-trade! They are a great source of energy and more filling than other fruits. Bananas are also jam-packed with potassium that helps lower blood pressure, and vitamin B6 for healthy skin and hair. They are also stuffed full of antioxidants, so do something great and gobble a banana today!

Apples: Apples are overloaded with vitamin C and antioxidants which are great for healthy skin and gums. One apple contains a quarter of your daily requirement of Vitamin C and they are low GI. They help to lower cholesterol and keep the digestive system healthy.

Garlic: An excellent cancer fighter, garlic also helps to stimulate the immune system by encouraging the growth of natural killer cells. Finally, a new study has shown that eating raw garlic after heart surgery may help to limit the damage done to the heart, due to its strong anti-oxidant properties.

Beetroot Dip
Preparation time 5minutes

225g can beetroot slices, drained 
¼ cup (70g) sheep milk yogurt

To prepare simply blend the ingredients together, if desired you can sprinkle the dip with coarsely chopped chives

Per Serving
4.4g total fat
(0g saturated fat)
17.6g Carbohydrate
136 calories
5.3g Protein
4g Fibre

Carrot Dip
Preparation time 10minutes
Cooking time 10minutes

1 medium carrot, grated coarsely
125ml fresh orange juice
2tablespoon goats milk yogurt 
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon dried currents
5g fresh grated ginger

Place carrot and juice in a small saucepan; cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes or until liquid is evaporated. Cool for 10 minutes. Blend carrot mixture with yogurt; stir in mint, currants and ginger.

Per Serving
2.2g total fat
(1.2g saturated fat)
26g Carbohydrate
136 cal
3.8g Protein 
4.4g Fibre

Raita
Preparation time 10minutes

140g sheep milk yogurt
65g finely chopped cucumber 
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh coriander
1 crushed clove of garlic 
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Combine ingredients in a small bowl

Per Serving
3.8g total fat
(0g saturated fat)
3.9g Carbohydrate
70 cal
3.2g Protein
0.7g Fibre

Hummus
Preparation time 5minutes
Cooking time 15minutes

375ml water
300g can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, quartered

Place the water and chickpeas in a small saucepan; bring to the boil and boil for 10 minutes. Strain chickpeas over a small bowl and reserve 100ml of the cooking liquid. Cool for 10 minutes. Blend the chickpeas, juice and garlic with the left over cooking liquid until just smooth.

Per Serving
4.3g total fat
(0.6g saturated fat)
28.5g Carbohydrate
206 cal
13g Protein
9.9g Fibre

All these super healthy dips are detox-friendly and as such are best eaten with sticks of carrot, pepper or cucumber (or any other vegetable you want). However if your not on a detox and want carbs like me then you can make some yummy and healthy pitta-bread crisps really easily. Just half the pitta and cut each half into 4, put it on a baking tray and brush with oil. Sprinkle them with some mixed herbs if you like, as a good alternative to salt and pepper, and bake them until golden brown in a pre-heated oven at 180C.

Ingredients
1 ciabatta loaf, cut in thin slices
1 clove garlic, peeled and rubbed in a little salt
about 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
For the topping:
6 red, ripe plum tomatoes
a few torn basil leaves
a few drops extra virgin olive oil
rock salt and freshly milled black pepper

Prepare the tomatoes before toasting the bread. All you do is place them in a bowl, pour boiling water over them and leave for exactly 1 minute before draining them and slipping off the skins (protect your hands with a cloth if they are too hot). Then chop them finely.

Pre-heat the ridged griddle over a high heat for about 10 minutes. When it’s really hot, place the slices of bread – on the diagonal – and grill them for about 1 minute on each side, until they’re golden and crisp and have charred strips across each side. (Alternatively, toast them under a conventional grill.) Then, as they are ready, take a sharp knife and quickly make about 3 little slashes across each one, rub the garlic in and drizzle about half a tablespoon of olive oil over each one.

When the bruschetta are made, top with the tomatoes and basil leaves, season with salt and freshly milled black pepper and sprinkle a few more drops of olive oil over before serving. It’s hard to believe that something so simple can be so wonderful.

Ingredients:
1 aubergine
1 green pepper
2 beef tomatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves, crushed
115g mushrooms
1 carrot, grated
225g cooked rice (brown rice is healthiest)
90g crumbled feta cheese
Salt and pepper
Note that almost everything in this recipe can be swapped for something you would prefer, like adding different cheese, herbs or vegetables. You could even replace the rice with couscous.

Method:
Firstly preheat the oven to 190 degrees (Gas 5), lightly grease and ovenproof dish. Cut the aubergine and pepper in half through the stalks. Remove the core and seeds from the pepper and scoop out the middle of the aubergine taking care not to pierce the skin. Dice the aubergine flesh.
Cut the tops off the tomatoes and hollow out the centres with a spoon. Chop up the middle and add to the diced aubergine. Place the tomatoes upside down to drain.
Bring a pan of water to the boil and blanch the aubergine halves for 3 minutes. Add the peppers and blanch for 3 minutes more. Leave the vegetables to drain then place hollow side up in the baking dish.
Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a pan and cook the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes. Stir in the diced aubergine, tomato and mushrooms. Cook for a further 5 minutes until softened. Then mix in the rice and feta cheese, grated carrot (and anything else you want to add), season with salt and pepper to taste.
Divide the mixture between the vegetable shells, sprinkle with the remaining olive oil and bake for 20 minutes, until the topping has browned.
These are great as they can be served hot or cold! This recipe makes four portions.

Price:
ASDA
1 aubergine – £0.98
1 green pepper – £0.68
2 beef tomatoes – £1.16
1 onion – £0.26
1 whole garlic – £0.34
Mushrooms 250g – £0.90
1 carrot – roughly £0.20
Brown rice 1kg – £1.19 (225g = £0.30)
Feta Cheese 200g – £1.47 (90g = £0.67)
Total: Per portion = £1.37.

This pricing is calculating by using the cost a whole garlic which is something you always want in your cupboard anyway. The rice is also something you are more than likely already going to have. This is a recipe that you can make, eat there and then and then save the rest to eat another time. You can also save money on the vegetables by buying them from the market in town!