The Little Book of Vegan Student Food
Learning to cook your own food is empowering, as you no longer have to rely on expensive plastic-wrapped ready-meals and takeaways. Master your favourite cuisines at home. Then every night is restaurant night!
The Little Book of Vegan Student Food is not just for students, but for anyone on a budget, and those of us who prefer simple affordable recipes over big coffee-table books of recipes that often are too complicated or time-consuming or expensive to make.
Store cooked leftovers in the fridge for up to 2 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months (write date it was cooked, on the lid). Defrost thoroughly overnight in the fridge, and don’t refreeze or reheat.
Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets (many ingredients are unsafe near animal friends). Bin allium scraps (onion, garlic, leeks, shallots, chives) as acids may harm compost creatures (same with tomato/citrus/rhubarb scraps).
You won’t find pictures of authors in their luxury kitchens in this book, just simple recipes made with simple ingredients (beans!) that you could start making this evening.
This pocket-size guide is handy to take with you to university or on holiday and is packed with nutritionally-sound plant-based meal that are tasty and easy-to-make. Spice up your student suppers with recipes easy enough to make on a hot-plate.
For example, the recipe for nachos just needs a can of beans and tortilla wraps, a tomato and onion, olive oil, a little vegan yoghurt and grated ‘cheese’, along with paprika, salt and pepper. And a squeeze of lemon. The recipe is simple to fit on one page.
Mid-Week Mac. While pasta cooks, make a roux with Flora plant-based butter (no palm oil), mustard, onion/garlic powder and cheesy-tasting nutritional yeast. Add flour to make a thick sauce, cook and add tomatoes and sweetcorn.
Simple Soup makes a nice garlic onion stock in broth, then just add a baked peeled pumpkin, cool and freeze into portions, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
Around half of all students are now plant-based, and the good news is that on campus, you don’t need much equipment. The must-haves include:
- A set of affordable quality knives (and chopping board)
- A saucepan and frying pan
- A wooden spoon, mixing bowl and baking tray
- A set of cup and spoon measures
- A measuring jug (a 3/4 full standard mug is 250ml)
A Charity That Helps Young Vegans
The Vegetarian Charity is a small charity that gives grants to vegans and vegetarians under 26, who need help. You need to provide proof from two people, via signed reference requests.
Typical grants are for educational courses, special needs, and daily living (fridges, bedding, sewing machines etc).
