Cooking your own meals in college has plenty of benefits. First and foremost, it’s relatively cheap. Cooking on your own will let you get in full control of your budget and save on pricey deliveries. Also, making your own meals will help you hone your cooking skills and food knowledge, which are crucial for living a healthy life. And of course, cooking yourself can help you eat healthier and more nutritious food, which is good both for your body and mind.
Unfortunately, most students rarely find time for cooking. Being busy with loads of homework assignments and papers, they often lack the time and energy for anything else. But if you are aiming for healthy eating, there are two ways to handle this challenge. First, you can find a trusted online paper writer service that you can ask, “Please, write my paper for me,” and delegate your assignments. This will help you save time without risking your grades.
Secondly, you can opt for simple yet nutritious meals that are easy to make. Read on, and we will give you a few recipes for a decent lunch that even a busy student can handle!
- Avocado and Tuna Salad Wrap
You’ll need:
- Wraps of your choice
- Solid white tuna
- Avocado
- Mixed greens
- Scallions
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Salt, pepper, or other seasonings to your taste
In a bowl, mix tuna, chopped scallion, and cut avocado. Add a bit of olive oil, lemon juice, and seasonings for a taste and mix. Put mixed greens on top of your wraps, add your tuna salad on top, and roll your wraps tightly.
This lunch is packed with fiber, magnesium, potassium, vitamins, and other beneficial elements from tuna fish and avocado. It is a perfect quick lunch with a reasonable amount of calories for students who are bothered about their fitness.
- Harissa Chicken and Farro Salad
You’ll need:
- Chicken breasts
- Sweet potato
- Red onion
- Quick-cooking farro
- Greek yogurt
- Feta cheese
- Arugula
- Cilantro leaves
- Harissa
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Salt, pepper, etc.
Before you start, preheat your oven to 450°F and cook farro according to the manufacturer’s directions. Put the sweet potato on a baking sheet, topping it with oil, salt, and pepper, and roast it for 8 minutes.
In a bowl, whisk together harissa, greek yogurt, and lemon juice. When the marinade is all ready, put chicken into it and thoroughly toss to coat.
Distribute chicken among sweet potatoes, reduce the temperature to 425°F, and cook for 12-15 minutes, until chicken breasts are cooked thoroughly and potatoes turn golden brown. Then, remove the potatoes and roast the chicken for another few minutes until it gets brownish.
In a large bowl, mix harissa, lemon juice, oil, salt, pepper, and onion. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then add cooked farro and mix. When serving, slice sweet potatoes on top of our salad, sprinkling with cilantro, arugula, and feta cheese. Slice your chicken and serve it next to the salad.
This recipe is also loaded with a good blend of protein, fat, fiber, and carbs. Yet, the biggest benefit of it is hidden in farro – a perfect source of iron, magnesium, and fiber, which are so crucial for the proper functioning of your brain and body.
- Buffalo Chicken Grain Bowl
You’ll need:
- Whole-wheat couscous
- Chicken thighs
- Celery
- Carrot
- Honey-mustard dressing
- Crumbled blue cheese
- Hot sauce to taste
Cook couscous according to the manufacturer’s directions and roast chicken thighs. Peel and cut carrot, and chop celery. When all ingredients are ready, take a bowl (or a sealable container if you want to cook a meal for later) and put cooked couscous inside of it. Top couscous with sliced chicken, and top everything with honey-mustard dressing. Put carrot, celery, and blue cheese on top and sprinkle with more dressing.
When serving, top your meal with hot sauce.
This recipe allows you to experience the delicious taste of buffalo chicken with high containment of protein and fiber. It’s a perfect blend for healthy immunity.
- Creamy Rotisserie Chicken Salad
You’ll need:
- Rotisserie chicken
- Celery
- Mayonnaise
- Black pepper
Before making a salad, chop celery and rotisserie chicken. In a bowl, combine chopped chicken and celery. Top with mayonnaise and pepper and mix well.
To give your salad even more flavor, consider replacing traditional mayonnaise with lemon-herb aioli or lemon-flavored mayonnaise. Additionally, experiment with adding dry or fresh herbs to make your salad more delicious.
This low-carb and high-protein salad is one of the fastest and easiest lunch ideas out there. It’s perfect for busy students who want to have a healthy and simple lunch. And you can refrigerate it for up to 4 days, which makes it a perfect pre-cooked lunch idea.
- One-Pot Spaghetti
You’ll need:
- Spaghetti
- Assorted color cherry or grape tomatoes
- Lemon
- Garlic
- Red onion
- Parsley leaves
- Basil leaves
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- White wine
- Grated parmesan
Peel 4 strips of zest from the lemon and thinly slice them. Then squeeze 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Place spaghetti in a large skillet so that they lie flat on the bottom. Add thinly sliced garlic, roughly chopped onion, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and cover everything with 4 cups of water, adding ½ cup of white wine. Bring it to a boil and cool for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Halve your tomatoes and fold them into the skillet. Continue to boil until spaghetti is al dente. In the end, stir in roughly chopped parsley, basil, and lemon zest.
When serving, sprinkle your pasta with grated parmesan for more flavor.
Pasta is a perfect source of glucose – the key fuel for your muscles and brain. At the same time, it’s rich in folic acid, low in sodium, and free of cholesterol.
Conclusion
When you are a busy student, cooking your own meals can sound like a mission impossible. However, that’s not quite true. These days, students have access to a variety of auxiliary tools that make their daily lives simple. Namely, students can delegate their assignments to the best essay writing service to save up enough time for cooking healthy and nourishing food. Besides, it becomes even simpler after reading this guide.
The recipes we shared with you here are all packed with lots of proteins, fats, vitamins, and other crucial elements. They can become a healthy and nutritious lunch for you. And they all are incredibly easy to make. So don’t hesitate to give these recipes a try!
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