We all like a take away, but on a tight budget this isn’t always easy. This veggie burger is a great alternative and quite healthy too. It’s quite easy to make, but read through the method first as it’s all about timing.

As a little snack while late night studying, there is a recipe for Vegan fruit muffins, for when you need that sugar hit. These should be ok for a couple of days in an airtight tin if they last that long.

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Breakfast
Toast or Porridge

Lunch
Cheese salad sandwich

Dinner
Veggie Burgers with chips and salad

Snack
fruit muffins

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Ultimate Veggie Burgers
This recipe is courtesy of a mix of Jamie Oliver’s ultimate burger
and Jack Monroe’s Veggie burger

Serves 2 plus 2 spare

Burger Ingredients
400g tin of kidney beans
1 smallish onion peeled and finely chopped
1 large carrot grated
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Small bunch of parsley (optional)
1 tablespoon oil, plus 2 tablespoons to fry the burgers
1 heaped teaspoon flour, plus another to shape the burgers

Burger Sauce Ingredients
Slice of Iceberg lettuce
2 tablespoons of ketchup and mayonnaise
A dash of Worcestershire sauce

Plus Extra burger Ingredients
1/2 a small red onion
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Handful of grated Cheddar
2 burger buns

Method

Drain the kidney beans and rinse in cold water. Put into a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes to soften.

Put the onion, carrot, cumin and parsley into a medium frying pan. Add the splash of oil and cook on a low heat to soften. When the kidney beans have softened, drain well and add to the carrots and onion. Remove from the heat and mash together until you have a smooth puree, like a mashed potato. Stir in the flour to stiffen.

While the burger mix is cooling enough to handle, make the finishing touches to the burgers by finely slicing the red onion and putting it into a small bowl with a pinch of salt and some white wine vinegar. Leave this for about 10 minutes.

Next mix the ketchup and mayonnaise with a dash of Worcestershire sauce together. Then take a small slice of the iceberg lettuce and mix this in too.

Divide the burger mixture into 4 and roll in to balls, Heat the remaining oil in the frying pan on a medium heat, then place them in the pan and flatten gently to make the burger shape.

Cook for a few minutes on one side, before turning. The burgers need to be handled with care as they can be quite fragile before they’re done! When cooked and slightly crisp on both sides, put a little of the cheese on top of each one and cook for a further minute.

Meanwhile prepare the buns by slicing them in half and lightly toasting the insides. Then start building the burgers by putting a layer of the mayonnaise lettuce on the bottom, then the burger, followed by the drained onions and then the bun top. They are now ready to eat.

Serve with some rosemary potato wedges and salad.

The 2 extra cooked burgers can be saved as either hot or cold lunch for later in the week

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Fruit Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3⁄4 cup milk
1⁄4 cup oil
1 cup frozen fruit

Method

Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a mixing bowl.

Mix in milk and oil.

Gently fold in blueberries.

Pour into paper cups in a muffin pan and bake at 200°C or Gas Mark 6 for about 25-30 minutes. until golden on top.