document meals under $3 and 15 minutes that don't make you feel like a sad student here

Similarly to Jaq's recipe (I think I might have posted this before):

1 bowlsworth of pasta, pref orecchiette
1 courgette, grated
1 big slosh of olive oil
1 pinch of chilli flakes
1 clove of garlic, crushed and chopped
1 grating of parmesan (or a drift of the stuff if you can afford it)

Put your pasta on. Gently sizzle the garlic and chilli flakes in the olive oil, then add the courgette. Keep over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until it fluffs down. Drain pasta, top with courgette sauce and parmesan.

Tonight I made this:

1 bowlsworth of pasta
1 nice, red, fairly big tomato, chopped up
half a mozzarella, chopped up
about 8 basil leaves, torn up
a grind of pepper

Cook your pasta, drain and return to the pan over a very low heat. Add all the other ingredients and leave for about 30 seconds, stir, leave for a bit more, stir, keep doing this until the mozzarella just starts to melt. Don't leave it too long or all the bits will stick together in one big blob. Serve.

I really like this one because it tastes all fresh and clean.

ahhh that was a college staple for me after my trip to italy. but you need garlic. also good with a dash of white wine or lemon and some spinach if you want to get fancier. and i like red pepper rather than ground black.

Not sure about the garlic - would you cook it first or add it raw like the rest? But the reason why I like the dish so much is it doesn't have onions or garlic in it, which gives it the fresh and clean taste.

I made something very much like those lentils tonight, except it more of a soup, and more italian spices instead of cumin because that's what was around. (Also put some feta cheese on top, though, yum.) Huge batch of leftovers for the week!

I was so sad to discover today that my local grocery does not sell chickpeas, or most other sorts of beans! (Or red lentils, so I had to make my soup with brown lentils, which I don't like as much.) How am I going to live without chickpeas? Seriously, I need protein! I might have to buy *meat*!

I love apple & cheese quesadillas for a quick, psuedo gourmet cheap eat (or, for that matter, just grilled cheese with apple or pear).

bump. I need to start spending less money on food. Will try some of the pasta things here.

If you ever go to the supermarket and they're throwing out a seafood selection that day, buy that and throw it in with a pack of Uncle Ben's Savoury Chicken flavoured rice plus optional vegetables - makes an excellent paella for one/two.